Market Watch

period. The good news for peanuts is that all categories — candy, snacks, PB and in-shells — are all positive in February compared to February 2022.

Export Markets

Markets are also positive for peanut exports. A delegation of shellers, growers and technical consultants visited ports in Hamburg and Rotterdam to observe the testing process first-hand and identify steps toward reducing the 20% inspection rate.

Import markets are concerned about origin from Argentina and Brazil. Peanuts in Argentina suffered great stress because of drought, very high temperatures and the aftermath of a frost on Feb. 18.

European Union buyers have swarmed U.S. shellers in the past few weeks, buying up significant quantities of the 2022 crop’s shelled goods for April to December delivery. If this trend remains, we could see the current crop market firm up from its current level of 63 cents per pound, and it could influence farmer-stock contracts.

Exports of peanuts continue to increase in Mexico and Canada, up 7.17% and 4.11%, respectively. A major change is the decline of China, down 40% from the previous year. Japan showed a 22% increase in exports with a 4.24% market share.

Things are looking good for peanuts. Now, we need to work toward keeping the peanut program in the Farm Bill, and hopefully increasing the reference price, so that farmers have some type of safety net in the future.