The 2017 – 2018 pecan harvest draws closer to completion, but for a few buyers, the pecan market is just getting started. For certain types of pecan buyers, the end of harvest is the beginning of buying season. The traditional pecan season in North America begins with early harvest during the month of October and continues through sometime in January when most of the North American pecan harvest is coming to an end. But for some pecan buyers the season is just heating up this time of year, this is the time when speculators and the entire pecan industry has a better handle on the size of the pecan crop produced this season. Speculators in the industry will use this time to find bargains on the spot market as well as buy contracts for future deliveries. But some speculators say this year is a little different. Because of the growing pecan markets around the globe, more buyers continue to enter the market and speculators are finding it more difficult to get the quantities they need.