The sentiment in the walnut market remains unchanged, with low availability both in origin as in spot markets. Slowly but surely a first idea on the new crop in California is taking shape. Last week the ETC (Export Trade Coalition) announced the July Subjective estimate for the 2021 crop at 723.000 MT. If this figure becomes reality, it means that California is looking at a roughly 7% decrease of their crop size compared to 2020. This news is expected to add more fuel to the fire and strengthen the incentive for buyers to consider bookings via SAP contracts, as offers for new crop are not available in the market yet. Next to this report of ETC is also the CASS objective estimate expected by the end of this month, which is valued by the industry due to its proven accuracy in the past. Although this is still an unknown and important figure for the industry, are we not expecting that this publication will blow the sentiment of the market into a different direction.
