The situation in Eastern – Europe didn’t change much during February. It remains difficult for the Eastern- Europe packers due to low availability of raw material and limited good quality material. In addition, the prices for raw material are still extremely high which pushed most exporters in a back to back position, which leaded to very low liquidity for prompt orders at the moment.
The price increase we mentioned in our previous market report for the light halves from California is still the same. In recent weeks it remains difficult to find offers for this grade from California. Looking ahead, we expect record production of walnuts form Chile in the 140.000 – 150.000 metric ton range. Chile is also taking advantage of the situation in the US at the moment, because the prices for light halves they are offering for the new harvest are higher than the prices from California.
The European spot market appears to be tight at the moment, for material from all origins. For the moment our advice remains to put focus on reliability of supply, making sure that pressure of deadlines doesn’t lead to compromise on quality.
