September, 1920 



BETTER FRUIT 



United States Export Trade in Apples 



( Prepared by the Division of Statistics, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce ) 



THE calendar year 1919 shows the 

 most remarkable values in the 

 history of the United Sstates export 

 trade in apples. These exports con- 

 sisted of 24,704,359 pounds of dried 

 apples, invoiced at $4,109,828, and 

 1,712,367 barrels of ripe or green ap- 

 ples, worth $14,471,282, or an aggre- 

 gate value of $18,581,110. This is an 

 increase of 45 per cent in the total 

 value, but a decrease of 36 per cent 

 in the quantity of dried apples and 

 11 per cent in the quantity of fresh 

 apples exported, as compared with 

 the pre-war calendar year 1913, when 

 the exports were 38,734,465 pounds of 

 dried apples, invoiced at $2,719,203, 

 and 1,920,221 barrels of green or ripe 

 apples, worth $7,417,400, or an aggre- 

 gate value of $10,136,603. 



The extraordinary fluctuations in 

 the value and volume of this trade 

 for the calendar years 1913-1919 may 

 be noted in the table of exports and 

 the average annual prices given 

 below : 



high record of $8.45 per barrel for 

 fresh and $0,166 per pound for dried 

 apples in the peace year 1919. 



The variations in the quantity, 

 value, and average price in the export 

 trade from month to month during 

 1919 are shown in the following table: 



Page 17 



monthly export price for the year, 

 the highest, $0,216 per pound, occur- 

 ring in September, when the exports 

 dropped to 561,773 pounds, valued at 

 $121,405. 



The movement of green or ripe 

 apples to foreign markets was heaviest 

 during the first and last quarters of 

 1919. With regard to quantity and 

 total value, the February exports of 

 493,996 barrels, invoiced at $3,792,361, 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November . . .*. 

 December 



Total. 



Dried 



2,306,575 



1,208,392 



2,833,155 



7,623,924 



1,178,257 



2,809,427 



1,562,188 



438,025 



561,773 



277,648 



1,815,234 



2,084,761 



24,704,359 



i 346,331 

 182,193 

 428,737 

 1,073,391 

 219,095 

 532,470 

 299,855 



72,887 

 121,405 



55,689 

 343,561 

 434,214 



$4,109,828 



Average 



price per 



pound 



$0,150 

 .150 

 .151 

 .141 

 .160 

 .190 

 .192 

 .166 

 .216 

 .200 

 .188 

 .208 



$0,166 



Green or Ripe 



213,107 



493,996 



286,979 



137,409 



20,747 



8,610 



23,450 



21,659 



34,619 



115,715 



213,270 



142,806 



1,712,367 



Value 1 



$1,527,498 



3,792,361 



2,619,902 



1,455,211 



280,747 



101,733 



170,164 



162,860 



238,780 



1,038,251 



1,739,297 



1,34 4,478 



$14,471,282 



Average 



price per 



barrel 



$7.17 

 7.68 

 9.13 

 10.60 

 13.36 

 11.30 

 7.25 

 7.55 

 6.90 

 8.97 

 8.15 > 

 9.40 



$8.45 



Unusually heavy exports of dried 

 apples, running in millions of pounds, 

 were made during each month of last 

 year, except the principal harvest 



The foregoing figures would seem 

 to indicate that the ordinary laws of 

 supply and demand as affecting values 

 were inoperative during the war pe- 

 riod and the peace year 1919. In the 

 normal pre-war year 1913 the average 

 annual export price of dried apples 

 was $0.07 per pound, and of fresh 

 apples $3.80 per barrel. The outbreak 

 of the war cut off to a large extent 

 the usual competition in European 

 markets from the other great apple- 

 growing countries — Australia, New 

 Zealand, and Canada. As compared 

 with 1913, there was a decrease in 

 American exports of dried apples of 

 7,706,914 pounds in 1914 and 4,825,957 

 pounds in 1915, without a proportion- 

 ate rise in value, the average annual 

 export price for those years remain- 

 ing $0,078 per pound. The same 

 paradoxical situation occurred in 

 1916, when the exports were 20,722,- 

 041 pounds less than in the previous 

 year and the average annual export 

 price dropped from $0,078 to $0,076. 

 Likewise, exports of fresh apples de- 

 clined 378,860 barrels in 1914, as com- 

 pared with 1913, and the average price 

 also declined from $3.80 in 1913 to 

 $3.70 in 1914. 



From 1916 decreasing exportation 

 of both dried and fresh apples was a 

 factor in the ascending scale of aver- 

 age annual export prices, which 

 amount to $5.40 per barrel for fresh 

 and $0,141 per pound for drier or 

 evaporated apples in 1918, the last 

 year of the war, and achieved the 



months of August, September, and 

 October. April holds the high record 

 for the quantity and value of dried 

 apples shipped during any one month 

 of 1919, with 7,623,924 pounds, worth 

 $1,073,391, or $0,141 per pound. This 

 constitutes the low - record average 



or an aveage of $7.68 a barrel, surpass 

 those of any other month. May, how- 

 ever, records the highest monthly 

 average export price on apples, reach- 

 ing $13.36 per barrel. September ex- 

 ports of 34,619 barrel, invoiced at 

 $238,780, disclose the lowest average 

 monthly export price of fresh apples, 

 $6.90 per barrel, as well as the high 

 record export price on the evaporated 

 fruit. Diminishing stocks of fresh 

 apples in cold storage naturally cur- 

 tailed exportation for the six months, 

 May to September. 



The combined fruit crops of the 

 United States perhaps exceed in va- 

 riety, quantity, and value those of 

 any other nation. The most import- 

 ant of these in the export trade is the 

 apple. This country is one of the 

 greatest fruit-consuming as well as 



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