Shipments of American Pecans have been climbing since the first of the season in September and looks to be on an upward trend with an increase of just over 10 million pounds when compared to the same time last season. 

 

The American Pecan harvest season begins in September every year and reports supply and demand numbers from September to August for the fiscal year. With recently updated data the pecan industry now has a clear picture of overall supply and demand numbers on a month to month basis. 

In this article we look at  pecan shipments from the months September to January of 2018-2019 season and compare the same months to the current 2019-2020 pecan season to get an understanding of how the market demand is shaping up for the season. Please note that all numbers are converted to in-shell for simplification. 

Overall pecan shipments for the current season are up 6% year to date with just over a 10 million pound increase in shipments over the same time last year. The growth in demand comes solely from the domestic market right here in the US. Pecan exports from the US have dropped significantly from last year, seeing a decrease of 13,059,371 pounds which represents a 26% drop year to date. September saw a slight increase in pecan exports of almost 2 million pounds, but October thru January have been down by almost 15 million pounds cumulatively. When looking at pecan exports by region the only bright spots are Africa increasing approximately 55,000 pounds and Asia increasing by almost 4 million pounds. The largest decrease comes from North America (excluding USA) with a decrease of 8.4 million pounds followed by Europe with a decrease of 7.7 million pounds.

 

However even with the 26% decrease in pecan exports, shipments are still up overall, due to the increase in domestic consumption. So far this year Americans have increased their pecan consumption by 23,167,918 pounds representing an increase of 21% for the domestic market. The strong domestic consumption has kept demand on the upswing. Domestic shipments in the US have increased every month except November which saw a slight 6% decrease.

*Shipment data excludes pecans in the supply chain between handlers (inter-handler transfers) and focuses solely on the shipments for clarification. 

*All pecan data referenced is converted to in-shell, unless otherwise noted.