We are getting close to the important end-of-the-year period for most of the products but buyers are still hesitant due to external factors such as trade war, volatile currencies and continuous price weakening for some of the products.
We think there is a lot to discuss at the upcoming trade show SIAL (21-25 October 2018), where most of the industry experts will meet.
You can find brief market updates for Hazelnuts, Cashews, Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Pecans, Macadamia, Dried Figs and Dried Apricots below. BATA FOOD will continue to publish latest dried fruits and nuts industry news and our comments at our blog.
Feel free to follow us on social media to get industry updates directly.
For more information about our products and market news of other products, do not hesitate to contact us.
Hazelnuts (Filberts)
Hazelnut market is increasing slightly due to stronger Turkish Lira compared to deep levels on September. Still we can say that hazelnut is the cheapest nut tree at the moment. Growers are furious as hazelnut prices dropped 35% against US Dollar and they ask government to intervene the hazelnut market.
Right now TMO (government organization) is not in the market for buying (like they did last year) and also not selling their stocks, but any change on their decision will cause a sharp increase – which is highly expected from very unhappy growers in that region.
Almonds
The Almond Board of California has released the September Almond Position Report with shipments of 168.85 million pounds compared to last year of 190.58 million pounds for a decrease of 11.4%.
September report showing a slow market as commitments were down 22% and The Middle East (and Turkey) shipments were down 51% due to tariff issues (+15% customs duty in Turkey pushed buyers to go for mainly Spanish Almonds) and political pressures. Compared to last year, buyers continue to buy hand to mouth and believe prices will come down. On the other hand, packers believe prices will increase and many of them selling at high prices or not offering citing the potential shortage.
Cashews
For cashews, current demand is very slow and RCN prices are going down since a long time which makes buyers more hesitant to buy as no one knows where it will stop going down. Stocks in Europe are very limited and causing higher prices for prompt deliveries – importers are sitting on their hand and trying to have the best deal.
Any strong demand from US and Europe may change the trend significantly and we suggest buyers to cover part of their needs now to avoid bad surprises.
Brazil Nuts
We are happy to see that Brazil Nut prices back to normal levels as expected after last year’s disastrous crop. Right now market is stable and the volumes are limited (especially for Medium grade) and we suggest stepping in to the market for 6 months needs at these stable price levels.
South Korea continues to buy huge quantities of brazil nuts and they remain as the largest importer. If we see China gets interested in Brazil Nuts like they did for Macadamia – it would not take much to see the majority of Brazil Nut production bought out by those two destinations alone.
Pecans
Hurricane Michael hit pecan growing area around Georgia (USA) and rumors are there is a significant damage. In few weeks we’ll have a better idea about the exact situation and prices will move accordingly. Until this incidence, packers were ready to sell and prices were going down but right now most of the suppliers are off the market and we may see a different picture if there is a major effect on the crop yields.
Macadamia
Macadamia market remains pretty same with very rare offers and availabilities especially for whole grades. Almost all of the packers are sold out for good quality material and sellers in Europe are either sold out or not eager to sell their stocks. Macadamia prices are around same levels but main issue is availability.
We strongly suggest covering your needs until next crop if you can find any material at origin or spot.
Dried Apricots
Finding good quality dried apricots without speckles or other damages is hard (due to thunder and hail in Malatya during May) and there is an important price gap between big (No.0 – No.1) and middle sizes (No.4 – No.5).
Until now we saw that firm dried apricot prices (on Lira basis) suppressed by very strong US Dollar against Turkish Lira so buyers did not feel the price difference. But right now we are seeing stronger Turkish Lira (today USD/TL 5.69 compared to September USD/TL 6.70) and it is possible that we’ll see increasing prices in general.
Sulphured Dried Apricots product page
Natural and Organic Dried Apricots product page