Jan 9, 2019

US fresh apple holdings down from average

U.S. fresh apple holdings in January are down compared to a year ago, as well as compared to the 5-year average, according to the U.S. Apple Association.

U.S. Apple recently conducted a survey of storage facilities, Regulatory and Industry Affairs Director Mark W. Seetin wrote in an email distributing a newsletter.

“According to the survey, this year’s fresh apple holdings on January 1, 2019, totaled 91.8 million bushels, 16 percent less than the inventories reported for January 1 of last year,” Seetin wrote. “Processing holdings totaled 34.5 million bushels, 18 percent less than last year on January 1.

“The total number of apples in storage on January 1, 2019, was 126.3 million bushels, 16 percent less than last January’s total of 150.9 million bushels and 11 percent below the 5-year average for that date.”

Those figures came with an asterisk: As a result of the government shutdown, USDA data on prices and exports was unavailable to U.S. Apple. Storage data for Michigan is gathered by the USDA, and so its Jan. 1 figures for Michigan were not available. U.S. Apple said its Jan. 1 figures for Michigan were estimated from its December storage, “minus the historical average monthly movement.”