U.S. Potato Imports on the Rise
In the July 2020 – June 2021 marketing year, U.S. imports of potatoes and potato products increased by 12% in fresh weight equivalent volume and 16% in value, compared to the previous marketing year.
“The growth in total imports was driven by a 22% increase in potato chips (predominantly from Canada), a 15% increase in frozen fries (85% from Canada), and an 11% increase in dehydrated potatoes, which includes fabricated chips (from Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, and Canada),” according to the latest Potato USA report.
Fresh potato imports (entirely from Canada) increased by only 2% and are below historical levels.
Before this report, Potatoes USA data showed that total exports for MY21 were USD1.8bn, down only USD21,194,087 from the record high in MY19, and the total volume was 1,733,236 metric tons (MT), down by 2,422 MT from the MY19 record.
