January 8, 2018
Anderson Exports is a Dried Fruit & Nut Agency in Northern California. We specialize in sourcing the best ingredients from California and the rest of the world.
Raisins
Domestic raisin sellers are seeing one of the most complex years in a decade or more. There has been strong demand this year from Asia, even in the face of one of the lowest carry-ins in many years. We have seen prices continue to climb out of California with little signs of slowing. Many packers are hesitant to offer long term contracts due to the high prices growers are continually demanding. All packers are facing similar issues this year leading to delayed shipments and very high prices. With all of that said, the quality of the fruit this year has been good, with some overseas clients opting for a DOV (Dried-on-Vine) product over the traditional Sun- Dried/Tray-Dried Thompson due to early harvest rains in California’s central valley.
If you are buying from the USA this year, expect prices to remain high with our recommendation to book whatever forward material you can at this point as those prices locked in earlier will inevitably be lower than what we expect to be the top of the market this spring/early summer. California may run out of new crop material by this summer. Even with prices now at multi-year highs, the prospects of a downward correction remain dim.
We are well-positioned to offer on a wide variety of raisins from California. Leading into the Southern Hemisphere’s harvest next month, we will begin our offerings from Chile and South African Origins.
Walnuts
We have seen some good quality walnut product coming out of California for both inshell and shelled. Inshell had a slow start due to the heat damage in large parts of California. We have Howard and Chandler Inshell still available and shelled product (80%, 20% LHP, etc.) becoming increasingly available. We look forward to working together on walnuts, whether it is natural condition inshell or vacuum packed // nitrogen pillow packed shelled product.
We expect shelled product to take center stage here in California over the coming month and more. Due to the damages from this summer and fall, we do expect there to be a good supply of shelled product this year, keeping prices stable as shipments shift from inshell to shelled. What inshell is still available will likely be priced quite a bit higher as compared to last year at this time.
Cranberries
Many suppliers are optimistic for the new year in sweetened dried cranberries. We are seeing pricing rise slightly on the news of possible volume regulations and inthe face of a much smaller crop from Canada than expected. The US supply is slightly smaller than last year as well with strong demand across Asia and Europe. Organic cranberry shipments remained on par with this time last year, although there has been a much smaller supply this year compared to last, an almost 35% smaller crop.
Many packers have a 6 - 8 week lead time on new orders and want the opportunity to confirm they will have the available volume you are looking for due to these shortages. We recommend anyone looking to cover their first half of 2018 SDC needs books sooner rather than later to take advantage of the prices now as they will continue to climb throughout 2018 in the face of this smaller crop and future potential volume regulation.
Sunflower
The U.S. sunflower harvest occurred slightly more slowly than expected. There were weather issues in some northern areas, creating disease problems. However, overall, the harvest went smoothly. The total U.S. planted acreage this year effectively sustained the industry to reach another year. The Canadian crop was even smaller than the prior year. In the Eastern bloc, production continued to rise. Prices are expected to be steady through the new year for U.S. crop.
Brazil Sugar & Grains
We offer ICUMESA 45 Sugar by the vessel. MOQ: 5,000 tons. Product is SGSinspected end-to-end at buyer's request. We also offer bulk GMO and non-GMO corn meal and soybean meal. Payment terms required: Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC) or Bank Guarantee (BG).