Pistachios: exports up on domestic consumption

August 9, 2023 at 12:53 PM , Der AUDITOR
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SACRAMENTO. Prospects for pistachios are good in California this year, despite floods devastating some plantations. Exports are also up on last year.

US exports still on the rise

At 257,010 mt US pistachio exports are 16% up on the 221,535 mt shipped overseas between September 2021 and June 2022. Total shipments are, however, only 8% up at 350,659 mt as opposed to the 323,068 mt registered in 2021/2022. Issue is that domestic shipments have declined by 8%. China is the most important export destination for the US by far. Shipments to here are 7% up. Next in line are Turkey with a sharp growth of 69% and Germany with a downturn of 32%. Shipments to India and the United Arab Emirates have, in addition, more than doubled. 

US pistachio shipments (mt)

Destination

2021/22

2022/23

Diff.

USA

101,532

93,649

-7.8%

China

61,448

66,167

7.7%

Turkey

15,621

26,458

69.4%

Germany

31,744

21,515

-32.2%

India

6,287

15,372

144.5%

Vietnam

6,701

11,064

65.1%

Hong Kong

9,048

9,773

8.0%

Italy

5,091

9,680

90.1%

Spain

10,820

9,182

-15.1%

UAE

4,378

8,886

103.0%

Others

70,398

78,913

12.1%

Total

323,068

350,659

8.5%

Administrative Committee for Pistachios, 01/09-30/06

Floods cause total damage in some plantations

California has witnessed an unusually wet year in 2023. Although this has prompted extensive flooding along the Tulare Lake Basin and other parts of the San Joaquin Valley, the outlook is generally encouraging for this year. The International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC), in fact, anticipates a 47% rise to 590,000 mt (1.3 billion pounds) in 2023/2024 as compared with 2022/2023.

With global demand on the rise and the trees being highly adaptable to desert-like conditions planting is increasing in California, Turkey and Iran. The Administrative Committee of Pistachios estimates that 35,000 acres of new plantations per year were added in 2021 and 2022 in the US. Some areas are, however, going out of production in all three countries as water is lacking. New plantings are, in addition, starting to become productive in Turkey, where production will range nominally lower than last year at 190,000 mt. After drought and excessive heat caused production to slump to 106,000 mt in Iran last year, output will bounce back to an estimated 200,000 mt in 2023/2024. 

 

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