U.S. fresh fruit imports in July fell by 14% year-on-year to US$857m, driven by declines in Hass avocados and bananas, new USDA data shows.

While the figure marks a large drop from the previous year, it is only marginally below the level recorded in July 2018.

Hass avocados - which in July typically represent around a quarter of the U.S.'s total fresh fruit imports by value - fell by 32% to US189m. 

We recently reported that July saw significantly lower prices year-on-year in the U.S. Hass avocado market, following two months of heavy volumes.

Bananas were the other major fruit import to see a large drop, falling by 15% to US$147m.

Imports of citrus overall remained flat at US$184.3m, although mandarin imports almost doubled in the month to hit US$42.5m, while lemons and clementines both saw declines of nearly a third.

The fresh deciduous fruit category also fell, declining by 28% to US$68.9m, which was largely due to lower imports of table grapes and apples.

In terms of the different fresh fruit suppliers, imports from Mexico - which in July typically supplies around a third of total - dropped by 14% to US$317.6m.

Meanwhile, fresh fruit imports from Peru also fell by 14% to US$104.4m, while from Chile they fell by 39% to US$75m.