Although we are far from a serious relief, the stress of the last few months seems to ease a bit on origin pricing of walnuts. Despite the relatively small crop in California this season are some uncommitted growers trying to gain interest from buyers at the moment, resulting in a stop of continues increasing prices. This only reflects the position of a certain amount of growers, but does have it’s impact on the overall market. At the same time are shipments from other origins prices to rise further as well, looking at the – wider than before – export options from China. These developments in origin are not reflected in the European spot market at the moment, as overall spot availability remains questionable and issues in terms of sea freight are still an important factor to keep in mind. So far there is no outlook on improvement of the shipping issues from Oakland, which still seen as the biggest challenge for the California walnut market this season. In terms of logistics, Eastern-Europe seems to be the easiest option for European buyers at the moment. After a late start, most factories in this origin seems to be operating at full potential these days, feeding the Christmas needs of European buyers. Crop wise the availability of product doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment, but the late start is giving a lot of pressure on timely arrival of product in October and November.
