U.S. concentrated orange juice imports

In April 2023, supplies from abroad of concentrated orange juice decreased by -61.3 % to 16K tons for the first time since January 2023, thus ending a two-month rising trend. In general, imports showed a deep setback. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in December 2022 when imports increased by 206 % against the previous month. In value terms, concentrated orange juice imports declined rapidly to $48M (IndexBox estimates) in April 2023. Over the period under review, imports showed a perceptible reduction. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in October 2022 with an increase of 130 % m-o-m.

Imports by country

In April 2023, Mexico (9.2K tons) constituted the largest supplier of concentrated orange juice to the United States, with a 56 % share of total imports. Moreover, concentrated orange juice imports from Mexico exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest supplier, Costa Rica (4.1K tons), twofold. From April 2022 to April 2023, the average monthly rate of growth in terms of volume from Mexico amounted to -8.1 %. The remaining supplying countries recorded the following average monthly rates of imports growth: Costa Rica (-2.3 % per month) and Brazil (+12.0 % per month). In value terms, Mexico ($29M) constituted the largest supplier of concentrated orange juice to the United States, comprising 61 % of total imports. The second position in the ranking was held by Costa Rica ($11M), with a 23 % share of total imports. From April 2022 to April 2023, the average monthly growth rate of value from Mexico amounted to -5.2 %. The remaining supplying countries recorded the following average monthly rates of imports growth: Costa Rica (+0.9 % per month) and Brazil (+11.3 % per month).

Import prices by country

In April 2023, the concentrated orange juice price amounted to $2,920 per ton (CIF, US), surging by 18 % against the previous month. Overall, the import price showed a pronounced increase. The growth pace was the most rapid in July 2022 when the average import price increased by 117 % month-to-month. As a result, import price attained the peak level of $4,563 per ton. From August 2022 to April 2023, the average import prices failed to regain momentum. Average prices varied somewhat amongst the major supplying countries. In April 2023, the country with the highest price was Mexico ($3,139 per ton), while the price for Brazil ($2,507 per ton) was amongst the lowest. From April 2022 to April 2023, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Costa Rica (+3.2 %), while the prices for the other major suppliers experienced mixed trend patterns.

Source: IndexBox Market Intelligence Platform

Ball Corporation announced today plans to build a new U.S. aluminum beverage packaging plant in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The multi-line plant is scheduled to begin production in late 2022 and is expected to create nearly 180 manufacturing jobs when fully operational.

“Our new North Las Vegas plant is Ball’s latest investment to serve accelerating demand for our portfolio of infinitely recyclable aluminum containers,” said Kathleen Pitre, president, Ball beverage packaging North & Central America. “The new plant is supported by numerous long-duration contracts for committed volume with our strategic global partners and regional customers and will enable us to serve customer and consumer needs for more sustainable aluminum beverage packaging while furthering our Drive for 10 vision.”

Ball plans to invest nearly $290 million in its North Las Vegas facility over multiple years. The plant will supply a range of innovative can sizes to a variety of beverage customers. Infinitely recyclable and economically valuable, aluminum cans, bottles and cups enable a truly circular economy in which materials can be and actually are used again and again. In fact, 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today.

Ball chose the North Las Vegas location for its new facility due to its proximity to customer can-filling investments, increasing regional demand, the infrastructure in place, the regional labor base and the cooperation of state and local officials.

The U.S. liquid refreshment beverage market grew more quickly in 2015 than in 2014, according to newly released preliminary data from Beverage Marketing Corporation. The market’s growth was the strongest seen in several years. Beverage-specific factors, such as the remarkable vibrancy of the sizeable bottled water segment, as well as more general ones, such as the continuing economic recovery, contributed to the overall increase in liquid refreshment beverage volume, which approached 32 billion gallons in 2015.

Bottled water had another notable year. The category’s core characteristics – healthful, natural, zero-calorie – increasingly resonate with U.S. consumers. Pricing remained aggressive, which also contributed to bottled water’s performance. Its growth actually accelerated, which is unusual for a category its magnitude. Volume enlarged by 7.9 %. Bottled water could become the number-one beverage by volume as soon as this year.
Niche categories continued to outperform most traditional mass-market categories. Energy drinks and, especially, ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee advanced muscularly during 2015. Bigger, more established segments such as carbonated soft drinks and fruit beverages failed to grow once again.

RTD coffee outperformed all other segments with a 16.5 % volume increase in 2015. Nonetheless, the segment accounted for a tiny share of total liquid refreshment beverage volume. It was the smallest, behind value-added water, which registered growth after having registered a significant decline the year before. Energy drinks advanced by 9.8 %, but also remained modest in size. Predictably, no energy drink, RTD coffee or value-added water brand ranked among the leading trademarks by volume (no fruit beverage brand did either.).

Sports beverages, on the other hand, had Gatorade (including all brand variations) as the sixth largest liquid refreshment beverage trademark during the year. Exceeding 1 billion gallons for the first time in 2011, trademark Gatorade dipped below that level subsequently, and returned to that level in 2015.

Carbonated soft drinks remained the biggest liquid refreshment beverage category, but they might not for much longer as they continue to lose both volume and market share. Volume slipped by 1.5 % from 12.8 billion gallons in 2014 to 12.6 billion gallons in 2015, which lowered their market share to less than 40 %. Carbonated soft drinks accounted for five of the 10 biggest beverage trademarks during 2015, with Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola retaining their usual first and second positions, but only one of the leading brands, Sprite, managed to grow during the year.

Bottled water had four entries among the leading trademarks in 2015, and every one of them grew well in advance of the overall liquid refreshment beverage category.
Four companies accounted for all of the leading refreshment beverage trademarks. Pepsi–Cola had four brands. Coca-Cola had three while Nestlé Waters North America (NWNA) had two and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) had one.

“Consumers have spoken,” said Michael C. Bellas, chairman and CEO, Beverage Marketing Corporation. “They’ve made their preferences clear. The rapid growth in bottled water and functional and niche alternatives like energy drinks expresses a shift away from most large traditional beverage categories.”

New York City-based Beverage Marketing Corporation is the leading consulting, research and advisory services firm dedicated to the global beverage industry.