California Walnut Board - February 2018 Position Report
As of Friday, March 9th, the California Walnut Board released the February 2018 Position Report.
Shipments for the month ended February 2018 were down approximately 5.2% versus February 2017 shipments and YTD ended February 2018 were down approximately 14.1% from the same YTD period the year prior.
For your review is a summary comparison on an inshell comparable basis using an identical shell out rate of 44.1% for both years:
Inshell Inshell
Equiv. Equiv.
Tons Tons %
Feb. 2018 Feb. 2017 Chg
Crop Receipts 627,798 679,225 -7.6%
Total Supply 683,774 744,395 -8.1%
Monthly Shipments 48,525 51,203 -5.2%
Export Shipments 35,966 36,866 -2.4%
Domestic Shipments 12,559 14,337 -12.4%
YTD Shipments 401,426 467,168 -14.1%
YTD Export Shipments 289,458 349,437 -17.2%
YTD Domestic Shipments 111,968 117,731 -4.9%
Inventory 282,348 277,227 +1.8%
Shipments as % of Crop 63.9% 68.80%
Shipments as % of Supply 58.7% 52.80%
Shipments of 48,525 for the month of February 2018 were down 5.2% compared with February 2017 at 51,203 while YTD shipments of 401,426 ton are 65,742 ton or 14.1% behind the same YTD period the previous year. Commensurately, 2017-2018 crop receipts are down by 51,427 ton which is less than the 65,742 ton that we are behind in sales and the 60,662 ton reduction in total supply. We continue the seasonal downward trend in monthly sales with November 2017 at 99,091 ton, December 2017 at 67,633 ton, January 2018 at 55,632 ton and now February 2018 of 48,525 ton but importantly, in order to carry out a similar 56,000 ton, the industry needs to average 37,724 ton in each of the next 6 months which seems reasonable. Shipments for the month did little to hurt the average needed to carry out a reasonable 56,000 ton crop amount.
Shipments as a percentage of supply are 58.7% for 2017-2018 versus 52.8% for 2016-2017 or a roughly 5.9% decline. Domestic shipments for the month were down 12.4% while export shipments were down 2.4%. Total YTD shipments are down 14.1%.