The global pecan market is slowly reacting to what is now being considered one of the largest pecan crop losses in history.

The pecan market is no stranger to price fluctuations, with this year seeing some of the largest price swings in recent history. The global pecan market took a hit earlier this year during the middle of the South African pecan harvest with prices dropping more than $0.60 per in-shell pound almost overnight. When news broke of the 47% tariffs place on US Pecans bound for China, it had a ripple effect through the global pecan industry causing the prices to plummet on the farm in South Africa. The US pecan shelling industry immediately stepped in to take advantage of the lower priced pecans in order to satisfy the ever growing demand for pecans both domestically and abroad, buying a large portion of the South African pecan harvest that would usually go to China. The pecan market has been slower this year than in past years with Chinese pecan buyer watching prices much more closely. While the in-shell market has been slower, the pecan kernel market has been anything but slow. Demand for pecan kernels has been soaring. The pecan pieces market is currently flush with supply but pecan halves are over-committed for the 2019 crop and now with the huge losses in Georgia and Central Texas, pecan buyers are growing concerned over availability, and the in-shell market is revealing buyers concerns. Low-ball prices have been floating around the in-shell pecan market in hopes of finding willing suppliers, but with a possible 50+ million pounds of pecans removed from the market, pecan buyers now have far less inventory to work with. The pecan retail market is booming and with the continued work from Weber Shandwick marketing agency, demand for the “original super nut” is only expected to grow.