American Carrot and Turnip Market Plummeted During the Pandemic

IndexBox has just published a new report: 'U.S. - Carrots And Turnips - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights'. Here is a summary of the report's key findings.

The American carrot and turnip market decreased by -7% to $1.8B in 2020. This slump was due to lower demand from the HoReCa sector hampered by the pandemic. The domestic production dropped in line with the demand, with the harvested area reduced by -3.3% y-o-y. Imports also plunged, while export remained stable despite the drop in output. Mexico, Canada and Israel continue to supply the majority of the U.S. carrot and turnip imports, but overall, the market is dominated by domestic producers.

Market Size

After eight years of growth, the U.S. carrot and turnip market decreased by -6.6% to $1.8B in 2020. The market value increased at an average annual rate of +1.1% over the period from 2012 to 2020. Carrot and turnip consumption peaked at $1.9B in 2019, and then reduced in the following year.

Production in the U.S.

In 2020, after two years of growth, there was a significant decline in the production of carrots and turnips, when its volume decreased by -6% to 1.4M tonnes. In value terms, carrot and turnip production declined to $1.6B in 2020. 

The decline in domestic production was caused by the reduction of harvested area in the U.S., which shrank to 31K ha, waning by -3.3% on the previous year's figure.

Imports into the U.S.

In 2020, supplies from abroad of carrots and turnips decreased by -7.3% to 212K tonnes for the first time since 2017, thus ending a two-year rising trend. The total import volume increased at an average annual rate of +2.8% over the period from 2012 to 2020. In value terms, carrot and turnip imports dropped to $113M in 2020. 

Mexico (108K tonnes), Canada (87K tonnes) and Israel (13K tonnes) were the main suppliers of carrot and turnip imports to the U.S., with a combined 98% share of total imports.

In value terms, the largest carrot and turnip suppliers to the U.S. were Canada ($51M), Mexico ($45M) and Israel ($7M), together comprising 92% of total imports.

In 2020, the average carrot and turnip import price amounted to $531 per tonne, with a decrease of -1.8% against the previous year. Over the period from 2012 to 2020, it increased at an average annual rate of +2.2%. Average prices varied somewhat amongst the major supplying countries. In 2020, the country with the highest price was Canada ($588 per tonne), while the price for Mexico ($421 per tonne) was amongst the lowest.

Exports from the U.S. 

In 2020, approx. 104K tonnes of carrots and turnips were exported from the U.S.; approximately equating to 2019 figures. In value terms, carrot and turnip exports reduced slightly to $120M (IndexBox estimates) in 2020. 

Canada (92K tonnes) was the main destination for carrot and turnip exports from the U.S., accounting for an 89% share of total exports. Moreover, carrot and turnip exports to Canada exceeded the volume sent to the second major destination, Mexico (8.8K tonnes), more than tenfold.

In value terms, Canada ($105M) remains the key foreign market for carrot and turnip exports from the U.S., comprising 88% of total exports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Mexico ($9.6M), with an 8% share of total exports.

Source: IndexBox Platform