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Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! I'm thankful you're here and wish you a lovely holiday weekend.
Will you be at the Almond Conference this year?
I'll be there and would love to catch up with you and buy you a drink or coffee. Let me know!
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🚢 Impacts coming for almond exports?
For those on the front line providing 80%+ of the world's almond supply, exporting California almonds to markets like Europe, Asia, the Middle East, etc. some of the news I'm about to share will not be news per se.
While we've had some opportunities for export improvements, per an update from the Almond Alliance late last month. Pressures are mounting all around.
What pressure am I referring to...
A possible rail strike. The worries are back.
Why does this matter?
Railroads have provided added optionality to access ports for California almond exporters. And it's essentially how the industry broke major shipping records in May and June of 2022.
Traditionally, most almond exports were moved through the Port of Oakland. Leveraging rail systems has increased access to other ports e.g. Los Angeles, Long Beach, Houston, and others.
You can learn more about how the Almond Express has helped increase port access, per an article with quotes from Blue Diamonds VP of Global Supply chain.
We'll continue to watch what happens and provide you all with updates as negotiations and hearings continue toward a hopeful agreement between unions and rail companies.
In the meantime...
a look at Weekly Export data continues to show patterns of a possible new normal for the California almond export market -- I.E. a change in demand patterns may be here to stay. And business as usual of strong demand being driven by holidays may be behind us.
And as with most things in the almond market, time will tell.
I'd love to hear what you think, let me know.
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