Peanut Market Update February 2022 Week 6

As we've often described it, the 2021 peanut crop has been primarily hailed by growers as a good crop. This is largely due to the fact that the crop has been quite good in terms of quality. Most growers state the crops' quality has been well above average compared to previous years.

Farmers have been able to get high prices with their crops. Of course, due to the pandemic, we've seen the demand fall, but this isn't something to be worried about. According to current estimates, production in 2021 was about 2.9 million mt (3.2 million short tons), about 4% higher than the previous year. 

In fact, 2021 saw a record-breaking yield in the US States like Oklahoma, Virginia, and South Carolina. Of course, Texas and Georgia experienced flooding issues that led to crop losses, but it wasn't anything too drastic.

The 2022 Peanut Crop

Since the cost of fertilizers has tripled in 2022, there have been slight concerns about the peanut crop. Of course, it is worth noting that, in general, peanut plants require little fertilizers (aside from calcium), so that's quite good. Many associations even report that this price increase might lead some farmers to switch from crops like corn and cotton to peanuts.

However, all growers face the same high fuel prices.

Market Prices to Note

In spite of everything, peanut prices haven't changed. It's still EUR 1.60/kg for blanched peanuts from South America. Since there are no US or Chinese peanuts left, traders are trying to offer Argentinian peanuts as substitutes.