May 2018 - Walnut crop report and update

The May 2018  shipments versus the May 2017  shipments on an inshell equivalent were up approximately 4% for May.    41,354 tons versus 39,504 last year.     

The FINAL receipts reported on Dec. 31st, 2017  for the Walnut crop are at 627,798 tons.

Pricing/Market:    The California Walnut packers are coming ending the season where they are completely finished or only have a few loads left to offer.

Demand has been slow for current crop currently, and new crop has started in many markets.

New Crop:    Industry experts believe that this year’s new crop may not be as large as once expected.  Some Industry Experts are now predicting the crop to be 660,000 to 700,000 lbs.  They believe this may be an “OFF” year for the trees and they are not producing as heavy as once thought.

Both the Tulare and The Serr crop look to be up over last year. Unfortunately the industry experts are not as optimistic on the Howard’s and the Chandlers, as Howards are down after two good crops and Chandlers look average at best.  The bloom on the Chandlers was completed in 3 weeks and the sizes look to be uniform across all 3 sizes ( 30% Jumbo, 30% Large, 40% Small and Babies ).

Right now it is very early and mindsets could change as we get closer to harvest.  We will definitely keep you updated.

India: Has increased custom duties on both walnuts from 30%  to 100% from all origins.

Turkey:  Unofficially, the duty for CA almonds and walnuts  has increased from 15% to 20%.  They have also removed some import licenses which has sent some local importers scrambling.

China:  China looks to have a big crop, so will also buy less in 2018.  They are predicting a crop of 750,000 to 800,00 tons.

Chile: Chile continues to have interest in moving both inshell and kernels since they are undersold from the previous years.  With a crop up over 30% from last year, the Chilean packers that are looking to move  +30 and +32MM Chandler Inshell.  The bigger sizes of Chandler, +34MM, and +36MM look to be well sold as there were less of them than last year.