News

Another harvest has come and gone and we realize that our growers have a choice with whom they choose to process their walnuts. As you know, we take our partnership very seriously. We appreciate that you do your part in caring and tending for the orchards. Rest assured that after we receive your crop, it is handled with the utmost care until it is marketed and sold. So, once again…thank you for being part of the team! Too much or not enough, are many times the way in which the world of agriculture abounds. We dealt with the drought for many years and in some instances, like this past year, flooding was the issue for many orchards. Some growers’ crops were near normal while others were impacted by the wet winter and summer heat. We must do our best with what we’re given by Mother Nature and focus on the things we are able to control in order to achieve success. As we’ve mentioned before, our new processing facility will be up and running for the 2018 season and we are very excited about it. This will be a state-of-the-art plant with the newest in design and machinery. It will allow us to better serve our existing and new growers, conventionally as well as organic. For our organic growers, keep in mind our on-site freezer facility, which provides a kill step for organic walnuts. Be on the lookout for your grower payment on January 31, 2018 and your invitation to attend our grand reveal of the new plant in the second quarter of 2018.

November 2017 Walnut Shipment Report Update:

• Nov 2017 shipments were 99,091 in-shell equivalent tons. For the month of Nov 2017 shipments decreased by 10,848 tons (-10%) compared to Nov 2016.
• September 1st, 2017 to November 30th, 2017 in-shell equivalent tons shipped are 229,891 tons. A decrease of 62,211 tons (-21%) compared to the same period in the 2016/2017 Marketing Year.
• In-shell shipments for Nov 2017 were 78,466,000 pounds, a decrease of 23,007,000 pounds (-23%) compared to Nov 2016.
• Season-to-date in-shell shipments (Sept 1, 2017 – Nov 30, 2017) are 197 million pounds, a decrease of 88 million pounds (-31%) compared to the same period in the 2016/2017 marketing year.
• Shelled shipments for Sept 2017 were 52.8 million pounds, an increase of 579,000 pounds (+1%) compared to Sept 2016.
• Season-to-date shelled shipments (Sept 1, 2017 – Nov 30, 2017) are 116 million pounds, a decrease of 16 million pounds (-12%) compared to the same period in the 2016/2017 marketing year. 

California Walnut Inventory (Inshell Tons)

• Carry-in from 2016 Crop Year: 55,976 2017
• Walnut Receipts: 614,565
• Total Inventory: 670,541
• Shipments through November 30th: 229,891
• Remaining Inventory: 440,650

Walnut Shipments by Region September 1st – November 30th, 2017:

Shelled:

• North America is down 7.9 million pounds or -12.17%
• Europe is down 1.6 million pounds or -5.06%
• Asia/Pacific Rim is down .4 million pounds or -1.8%
• Middle East/Africa is down 6 million pounds or -54.23%

In-shell:

• North America is up 4.8 million pounds or 44.98%
• Europe is down 10.4 million pounds or -13.75%
• Middle East/Africa is down 49.8 million pounds or -40.11%
• Asia/Pacific Rim is down 33.5 million pounds or -45.22% 

Countries with big increases/decreases in imports September 1 – November 30, 2017:

• USA shelled down 7.4 million pounds or -12.55%
• Canada shelled down .5 million pounds or -8.43%
• Germany shelled down .3 million pounds or -2.02%
• Spain shelled down 1.4 million pounds or -16.48%
• Israel shelled down .4 million pounds or -14.25%
• Japan shelled up 1.7 million pounds or 26.38%
• Korea shelled down .6 million pounds or -7.23%
• Germany in-shell down 1.2 million pounds or -9.71%
• Italy in-shell down 8.4 million pounds or -19.11%
• Spain in-shell down 2.4 million pounds or -14.65%
• Turkey in-shell down 48.8 million pounds or -50.38%
• UAE in-shell up .2 million pounds or 1.14%
• China in-shell up 1 million pounds or 20.95%
• Hong Kong in-shell down 14.4 million pounds or -63.06%
• India in-shell up .3 million pounds or 3.02%
• Vietnam in-shell down 20.4 million pounds or -58.96%

Market Recap

In September 2017, CASS released the 2017/2018 objective measurement report projecting a crop of 650,000 tons. This was a decrease of 36,000 tons from the 2016/2017 crop year of 686,000 tons. This immediately put upward pressure on prices for September and October and as the new crop started to arrive there was speculation that the walnut industry may not even hit the 600,000 ton mark. Through November 30th, receipts for the 2017/2018 crop year sit at 614,565 tons. We will most likely finish up the year in the 617,000 ton range falling short of the estimate. Walnut quality has been excellent this year. With the extremely wet winter and the long heat spells we had this summer everyone was starting to get concerned about the quality of the walnut crop. What we saw was great color and higher edible yields across the board. CASS had projected a higher than average insect problem. Insect damage ended up being a non-issue in walnuts. The current market is facing pressure from three months of down shipping reports. With the 2017/2018 crop being down 10% from the 2016/2017 crop we can expect shipping reports about 10% down from last year. So far, September was off 48%, October was off 20% and November was off 10%. This has pushed prices off their highs hit in November. Until we see some strengthening in the shipment reports we will probably continue to see prices soften.