Beer imports grew by an astounding 18.2% for February 2022 compared to February 2021, according to the Beer Institute, which analyzes Census Bureau data on imports. This growth was driven almost entirely by Mexican imports, which grew by 38.8%, up more than 660,000 barrels compared to a year ago. Note that the net gain for total imports was 450,000 barrels compared to February 2021, Beer Institute said.
Year ago comparisons are very favorable, with Mexican imports down 9.2% (down nearly 175K barrels) in February 2021 compared to February 2020. In fact, February 2021 was one of the lowest volume months in the past two years, with May 2020 as the only other month with lower volume, BI said.
Mexican import barrelage is in line with volume trends for recent months. For example, February 2022 shipments for MX imports are down -0.8% compared to January 2022 and up 0.5% compared to December 2021. (see chart below)
Typically, February volume drops compared to the prior month of January. In 2020, Mexican imported volume dropped 9% in February compared to the month prior of January 2020. The slight dip in volume for this latest month compared to January is a much better trend than we see in a typical drop from January to February.