Nuts

Pecans: US domestic sales increase significantly

September 26, 2022 at 3:46 PM , Der AUDITOR
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ATLANTA. Over the past four seasons, pecan sales have increased massively in the US domestic market, and exports also achieved the hoped-for increase in the 2020/21 season. Farmers are struggling to keep up with the high demand.

Trade war halted exports

The US pecan market has undergone major changes over the past decades. While the nuts produced primarily in the southern states of the USA mainly covered the domestic market and there was only a very small export market, producers in Georgia set out for new shores and opened up new markets. According to the experts of Pecan Report, China played a major role in this; large quantities of pecans were shipped to the Asian country until the trade war between the USA and China abruptly put an end to this business.

In the meantime, new ties are being forged here, but the US domestic market still plays a decisive role in the pecan nut trade. If one looks at the last four seasons alone, the increase in domestic sales becomes more than clear. While in the 2017/18 season just over 80,700 mt of pecans were traded within the US, in 2020/21 this figure had already risen to 156,000 mt - an increase of a whopping 92%. Exports also showed an upward trend in the 2020/21 season for the first time in several years - according to the Pecan Report, 54,884 mt were shipped overseas.

Larger acreages

The problem with the growing demand was that growers in the US could not keep up with production. Experts state that despite opening up new plantations, growers were only able to meet three-quarters of demand, and in some cases even less. The plantations need 7-10 years before they reach the level of commercial production. Buying interest is expected to increase further over the next decade and growers are striving to keep up. Work is currently underway on new, high-yielding varieties and acreage continues to increase, especially in New Mexico.

Prices on the European spot market have declined slightly in recent days. Fancy Junior Mammoth Halves, origin USA are currently traded at 13.75 EUR/kg FCA Spain.

US pecans

Type

USD/kg

EUR/kg

Fancy Junior, large pieces

12.44

12.87

Fancy Junior Mammoth Halves

13.29

13.75

FCA Spain

Note: Data referenced in this article is produced by the American Pecan Council and is subject to change regularly without notice.

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