As it became apparent that this year's California walnut crop would be bigger than last season's, prices have dropped steadily through the fall. Heading into the new year, exports are down, but growers have a sense that prices are stabilizing.“This is a record crop,” said Bill Carriere, President of Carriere Family Farms. “Walnut prices have been generally high in the past, so a lot of people decided to plant walnuts over other crops. That's been happening for the last two years, so increased production is partly due to more acreage.” Another reason for this year's crop, which is expected to reach 560,000 tons, is favourable weather throughout the growing season. Big volumes has led to lower prices and shorter contracts for suppliers.
“Domestically, this has been one of the tougher markets because, even though demand is still strong, buyers are getting their walnuts hand-to-mouth because they know they can get the same, if not lower, prices the following month,” explained Carriere. “Prices were initially high early on because of low volumes, then they softened through October and November, and now they have stabilized.”
The export market has also slowed down as a big walnut crop in China meant there wasn't as much need for American walnuts there. It's estimated that early-season shipments are down by about 20 percent when compared to early-season exports from the previous season. For that period, shipments to Hong Kong alone were down from 56.8 million pounds to 30.8 million pounds. Further complicating the export situation has been the labour dispute between union workers and port operators at West Coast ports. The resulting work slowdown has made it harder to quickly ship walnuts abroad.
For more information:
Bill Carriere
Carriere Family Farms
+1 530 934 8200