Published 10:09 am Wednesday, June 11, 2025
U.S potato export volumes in the first three quarters of the marketing year increased in frozen, fresh and seed categories and fell in dehydrated and chip product lines.
Export volumes in the July-March period were up from a year earlier by 3% in frozen — the largest category — 1% in fresh and 16% in seed categories, marketing group Potatoes USA reported. Export volumes fell by 16% for dehydrated potatoes and by 17% for chips.
In all categories combined, export volume declined 4% to 2.3 million metric tons on a fresh weight equivalent basis, driven primarily by a decrease in dehydrated potato exports, according to a news release.
U.S. potato export value declined 1% to $1.7 billion, Potatoes USA reported, citing U.S. Department of Commerce data.
The frozen category accounts for 49% of U.S. export volume, according to Potatoes USA.
Export increases for the July-March marketing period from a year earlier included 9% for Japan, 11% for South Korea, 10% for Canada, 13% for Taiwan, 15% to Guatemala and 4% for Saudi Arabia.
Decreases in the Philippines and Malaysia — 26% and 9%, respectively — were driven by increased exports to those countries from China and India, according to the release.
Fresh potatoes, about 20% of total export volume, include table and chip stock.
Potatoes USA reported increases of 76% to Japan (chip), 23% to Taiwan, 71% to the Dominican Republic and 98% to Guatemala. Japan does not import fresh table-stock potatoes.
Exports decreased to Canada by 19%, South Korea by 20%, the Philippines by 13% and Malaysia by 37%, Potatoes USA reported. Lower exports in Asia were driven by increased exports to those countries from China and India.
Exports to Mexico, the largest U.S. market for fresh potatoes, were flat.
U.S. exports of dehydrated potatoes were down in eight of the top 10 export markets for the July-March period: Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, China and Israel, according to Potatoes USA. The others in the top 10, Indonesia and Malaysia, saw growth of 127% and 26%, respectively.
The Idaho Potato Commission focuses on frozen, dehydrated and fresh exports.
“We continue to see increased demand for Idaho product internationally,” Ross Johnson, the commission’s retail and international vice president, told Capital Press. IPC thus focuses on finding importers comfortable importing U.S. potatoes, and then instructing them on the differences between the Idaho product and products they may be importing from another region.
The Idaho Potato Commission is “laser-focused” on increasing exports to Taiwan, the largest export market for U.S. potatoes in Asia, he said.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little last year led a trade mission to Taiwan, and the mission’s momentum “has really buoyed our business prospects” in the country, Johnson said. A grant through the Idaho Department of Agriculture has helped the commission develop business for Idaho potatoes in Taiwan.
Three years ago, Mexico granted full access for U.S. fresh potatoes. For decades, U.S. fresh potatoes were allowed only in an area near the border.
Idaho fresh exports to Mexico are down recently because some of the potatoes have not met the country’s standards and the commission’s goal is to maintain opportunity in the market, Johnson said.
China and India are emerging as competitors with the U.S. in both frozen and fresh potato markets in recent years, as Potatoes USA notes, and “this trend is something to keep an eye on,” said Pat Hatzenbuehler, University of Idaho associate professor and Extension specialist in crop economics.
Factors driving exports include domestic production conditions in potato-producing countries, relative prices in export-competing countries and exchange rates with trade partners, he said.
Some countries’ reported year-to-year percentage changes are large because the countries have a small percentage of total U.S. exports and thus a relatively small initial value, Hatzenbuehler said.
About 20% of U.S. potatoes are exported, according to a 2024 report by the National Potato Council.
