Walnuts: traders are grateful for tenders
May 12, 2020 at 3:39 PM ,
Der AUDITOR
... should drive up carry-over stocks if it fails to revive over the next few months. This year's production estimates currently range at 650,000-655,000 metric tonnes due to the good conditions.
Prices decline
Although April exports are up on last year, some buyers are reportedly hesitant to call off contracts. Problem is that some contracts were concluded at much higher prices than the current spot market prices. Since the walnuts need to be placed in cold storage as of May, the selling pressure is up to keep the storage costs low. US Chandler walnuts, 80% LHP, are currently trading at EUR 7.40 per kg FCA Spain.
|
US walnuts |
|
|
Type |
EUR/kg |
|
Chandler, LHP 80% |
7.40 |
|
Chandler, LHP 40% |
7.10 |
|
Chandler, LHP 20% |
6.70 |
|
FCA Spain |
|
US government supplies food banks
The US government tenders are a ray of hope for many traders. They may even take place regularly until the arrival of the new crop. Food banks are being used more than ever in the US and the government has recently purchased larger volumes of nuts, dried fruit and nut-fruit mix, including 1,134 metric tonnes of walnuts.
Decline in exports
The US has shipped a total of 271,174 metric tonnes of walnuts with and without shells since the start of the season, which is a decline of 11% on last year. While the shipments within the US have decreased by 4% to 68,488 metric tonnes, oversea shipments have declined more sharply by 13% to 202,686 metric tonnes. Judging by this, it can be noted that the April exports were surprisingly good at 14,033 metric tonnes (+9%). By contrast, shipments within the US declined by around 33% in April (5,960 mt) as compared with April 2019.
Shipments to China and to India remained low in April. Exports to Germany and the United Arab Emirates, however, dropped by 15% and 70% respectively as compared with the same month last year. By contrast, a sharp rise in shipments has been was observed to Italy (+88% to 325 mt), Spain (+30% to 1,647 mt) and Turkey (+4.755% to 1.90 mt).
|
US walnut shipments in mt |
|||
|
Destination |
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
Diff. |
|
Europe |
74,027 |
80,494 |
9% |
|
Asia/Oceania |
47,061 |
43,348 |
-8% |
|
Africa/Middle East |
101,802 |
70,625 |
-31% |
|
Central/South America |
90 |
320 |
255% |
|
North America |
78,017 |
74,806 |
-4% |
|
Others |
2,222 |
1,582 |
-29% |
|
Total |
303,219 |
271,174 |
-11% |
|
California Walnuts, since the start of the season |
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