Final report for the non-regulated analysis of existing policy for table grapes from Sonora, Mexico

Export capability

1. Production statistics

Approximately 260 000 tonnes of table grapes are produced annually in Mexico. Table 3.1 shows Mexico’s production figures (Berman & Flores 2013; Wolf & Flores 2014). Over 90 per cent of the total production is from Sonora (Berman & Flores 2013; Wolf & Flores 2014).

Table 3.6 Production and per cent share of total table grape production in Mexico in 2012–13 and in 2013–14

	2012–13		2013–14
State	Production (metric tonnes)	Per cent share	Production (metric tonnes)	Per cent share
Sonora	260 904	93.17	238 478	91.89
Zacatecas	12 198	4.36	11 539	4.45
Baja California	3 929	1.40	6 121	2.36
Queretaro	1 829	0.65	2 090	0.81
Total for all of Mexico	279 966	N/A	259 472	N/A

Source: Berman (2013) and Wolf (2014).

2. Export statistics

From 2010 to 2014, Mexico exported between 137 000 and 171 000 tonnes of table grapes per year (International Trade Centre 2015). Over 98 per cent of Mexico’s exported table grapes go to the United States (International Trade Centre 2015). Other export markets include Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, China, El Salvador, Japan and Brazil (International Trade Centre 2015). Table 3.2 shows volumes of table grapes exported from Mexico from 2010 to 2014 (International Trade Centre 2015).

Table 3.7 Export volumes of table grapes from Mexico to the top eight markets from 2010 to 2014

	Volume (metric tonnes)
Destination	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
United States	169 747	135 662	166 064	147 591	150 612
Venezuela	0	0	0	884	540
Costa Rica	376	309	477	392	372
Guatemala	381	279	330	176	182
China	0	0	71	0	180
El Salvador	78	104	177	139	165
Japan	0	15	122	17	131
Brazil	125	169	106	98	116
Total for top eight export markets	170 707	136 538	167 347	149 297	152 298
Total for all export markets	171 325	137 531	167 854	149 647	152 541

Sources: ITC calculations based on UN COMTRADE statistics (International Trade Centre 2015).

Over 85 per cent of the total exported table grapes from Mexico are from Sonora. Table 3.3 shows volumes of table grapes exported from Sonora from 2010 to 2014 (CESAVE Sonora 2015).

Table 3.8 Volumes of table grapes exported from Sonora from 2010 to 2014

Volume (metric tonnes)
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
149 037	128 813	150 000	131 515	131 769

Sources: CESAVE Sonora (2015).

3. Export season

The expected export season is from May to July as table grapes in Sonora are generally harvested during these months (Berman & Flores 2013; SAGARPA 2015b; Wolf & Flores 2014).

4.