Pinenuts: The market continues to go from bad to worse. There has been some respite over the past month when there were offers of Pakistani pinenuts, however many manufacturers find these more oily with generally a shorter shelf life than the Chinese. There is increasing demand for a product that has had one of its worst years for supply. The hope is for a better new crop from China and/or a relaxation in cross-border supply into China, but this will not be arriving into Europe before the end of December.
Pumpkin: It will be about four months before we see any respite from new crop, and all indications are for prices to climb before this can offer any relief. It looks like stocks will struggle to see off demand this side of early January so users are strongly advised to try to identify their additional requirements while stocks last. We are already seeing 2010 deliveries being offered at a near 20% discount to current crop, despite the concerns over a repeat of the poor supply this year.
Sunflower: Prices continue to show excellent value both in comparison with pinenuts and pumpkin but also across the wider seed sector. Fortunately, China has some competition from the US which relieves the pressure, and supply has been a relatively equal match for demand.
l Based on information provided by ingredients supplier RM Curtis