July 31, 1998
Grower Newsletter
July 31, 1998
ALMOND MARKET STEADY SINCE ESTIMATE. Trading has been quiet, as it normally is at this time of year. Only a few growers are selling at today’s prices. Most also express a plan to sell before bloom. This will compact selling into a narrow range of two to four months and could cause some price weakness, if crop comes in close to the estimate. The other story is concern about crop coming up short of the estimate. We will not really have a good idea until our delivery reports in early November. Early deliveries will give us some idea, but are not always good indicators. Buyers are also slow to accept current prices. Accordingly, the following grower prices are not necessarily supported yet by end users:
1998 Crop
Shellerrun MeatsField Run
Nonpareil2.00 +/-1.96 +/-
California1.75 +/-1.71 +/-
Shellrun meats from PAPC fob are .02/lb higher.
HARVEST IS EXPECTED TO BE LATE this year. Most early harvest areas do not expect to be delivering nuts to shellers until the week of August 17—about two weeks later than last year. According to measurements made during the crop estimate, kernel sizes will be large, as expected,– similar to ’93 crop and not quite as large as ’95 or ’96 crop for major varieties. The good news for processors and buyers is that doubles will be way down from last year’s record levels. Shrivel and gum are below average. We have heard many field reports of blank nuts, but this was not observed in the crop estimate data. Please make sure kernels are under 5 or 6% moisture before delivery—this will help reduce mold, internal damage and imbedded shell.
RPAC will be packing Nonpareil and Sonora inshell for India at one or two hullers in the state this year. We expect a premium of about $.03 to .05/lb (kernel weight) for nuts which qualify—low rejects and FM. If you are interested in participating, please let us know. We will need to truck field run to one of the participating hullers.
We expect to post prices on this website on a regular basis. At this time, the newsletters are shown along with brochure information. Watch for changes and give us your ideas for providing better information service to you.
I will be in Spain August 1 to 16 visiting buyers, but will be in daily contact with the office. Our staff will assist you with forward sales, receiving and other matters in my absence.
– Ned Ryan