This is a busy time of year for pecan shellers. This is when many of the larger buyers of pecans begin renewing or seeking out new contracts for the supply of pecans as an ingredient. This is when shellers and brokers can more safely quote pecan ingredient buyers for supply for the rest of the year. For a pecan broker to contract much earlier would be far riskier. This is due to the fact that most of the world’s supply of pecans has now been harvested for the year and pecan shellers and brokers now have a better handle on the supply capacity for the year. Of course, South Africa, Australia, Israel, and parts of South America will have limited pecan production but currently, not enough to affect global supply in any significant way. With the North American harvest mostly complete, meat market prices are much firmer and now it’s all down to negotiations. However, this year’s demand has seen increased interest both domestic and globally which will have an effect on pecan prices. We will continue to follow the pecan meat market closely to see how pecan prices will move in the coming months. The next few months will reveal the true global demand and the affect it will have on global pecan prices for the rest of 2018.