Brazil Nut Market Update February 2022 Week 5

As reported in our previous market update, the harvest has begun in the Latin American rainforests, and yield definitely seems to be higher than the previous year. Early observations also report a good quality crop.

But this good news is overshadowed by the situation developing in Bolivia. Due to the pandemic, the labour situation remains tense, with many outages and restrictions in factories, making it extremely difficult for the supply chain to function effectively.

There has also been information from various sources that the availability of brazil nuts on the spot market is meagre, causing prices to drive upwards. Most customers only hold small stocks, so it is expected that prices for the new crop will not fall as significantly as it usually does, even though the crop volume is relatively high.

How Do Deliveries Look?

As it is with almost every foodstuff industry in 2022, delivery problems remain a massive part of the trade deals. There are few empty containers available for shipments, pushing freight rates over US$5,000 for a 20' FCL. Cargo ships are also operating less frequently, further disrupting the supply chain.

Due to this situation, customers are looking to stock up on essentials and hope for price reductions in the coming months.

Updates from Germany

The one silver lining is that German Brazil nut imports remained stable in 2021 and are expected to increase by 0.4% only. It is, however, evident that Germany has displaced Peru for second place as one of the most critical suppliers. The Netherlands increased its exports to Germany to 176 MT, which is an increase of 3400%. It is worth noting that Bolivia has continued to supply 1,928 MT of Brazil Nuts to Germany, maintaining the first-place position by a very, very large margin.