The preliminary numbers have been released by the American Pecan Council staff and total shipments for pecans finished the year in the positive territory up 6.7% over last season. The pecan season runs from September to August each with the new season beginning last month. The preliminary data has been released for the month of August 2020 and pecan shipments finish the year strong. 

In the 2018-2019 season, the American pecan industry shipped just under 339 million pounds (153,767 mt) for the season, for the 2019-20 season the pecan industry shipped almost 362 million pounds of pecans to buyers around the globe, representing an increase of 6.7% for the year. 

 

The global pandemic has had an effect on pecan export shipments to most regions around the world, but domestic growth has been strong enough to pull the numbers out of the red. Pecan export shipments finished the year down 14.2%. But with domestic shipments surging 17% for the year, the industry finished in the positive territory. 

With total pecan shipments just shy of 362 million pounds (164,200 mt) and total pecan purchases just over 314 million pounds (142,428 mt) the industry will finish the year with a deficit of just under 48 million pounds (21,772 mt) of pecans.  

 

The reported inventory however is up 15%. Pecan inventories in the US have been trending higher for the year as reported by both the USDA as well as the APC. APC inventory in August is reported up 15% from the same time last year while the USDA August cold storage report showed an increase of 18%, both sets of data show a large increase in in-shell pecans with a slight decrease in shelled pecans. 

 

Pecan purchases from growers to shellers are down across the board. Pecan imports, as reported by US handlers, are down 18% while US grown pecans deliveries are also down 8.2%, a total of 39 million pounds less than purchased last year. While purchases from consumers are up, purchases from growers to handlers is reported down for the year.