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APC’s Industry Position Report for May gifts the industry with more reliable information

a tractor driving through the pecan orchard

(Photo by American Pecan Council)

The American Pecan Council released its Pecan Industry Position Report for May 2019 last night. This report marks the ninth monthly report for the 2018 crop. With each release, the American pecan industry develops a clearer picture of the market’s current state and the movement of pecans throughout the country and around the world.

In the month of May, total pecan shipments (inshell basis) continued their upward trend—jumping 30.5 percent for May. As shipments continue to gradually increase since February, the number of pecans reportedly in handlers’ inventory mirrors this point by decreasing for the most part over the last few months. There was a small jump in total inventory during March, but this number dropped again in April. Overall, these numbers suggest that the U.S. pecan market is moving along.

Digging further into the Pecan Industry Position Report for May 2019, we can see that total exports to China and Hong Kong continue to fluctuate with shell and inshell shipments increasing some months and decreasing others. For May, 41,100 pounds of shelled pecans were exported to China, which is 900 pounds less than the month of April. Exports to Hong Kong also shifted; while shelled exports dropped to zero in May, inshell exports increased to 1,311,750 pounds. As we advance further into the summer, we should expect these numbers to fluctuate even more and possibly decrease as Australia finishes their harvest and South Africa starts theirs.

Although exports to China and Hong Kong are uncertain, exports to other countries and regions prove to be relatively steady through May. Europe is a particularly interesting region to explore. Over the last nine months, Europe has imported a total of 32,848,342 pounds (inshell basis). Many of these pecans are entering through Germany and Netherlands—the two main ports of entry—and then are traveling out. Although the number of shelled pecans shipped to each European country has generally varied, the continent’s total number continues to increase as the season progresses.

The May report also shows the total amount of crop that handlers have reported over the last nine months: 226,976,650 pounds. With three more months of reports left to complete a year, the industry will possess—for the first time—complete and accurate data.

At this point in time, the industry has no previous data to compare these numbers too. But as more data is collected every month, we will not only acquire a clearer view of the market but also develop a reliable archive that we can return to for years to come.

Catherine Clark

Catherine Clark is the managing editor of Pecan South. She has her M.S. in Journalism from the University of Southern California, and her B.A. in Communication and Spanish from Trinity University. For questions, comments or concerns, she can be reached at cclark@pecansouthmagazine.com.