We are ending what has undoubtedly been very different season, we have faced challenges that we could never have imagined; A World Pandemic! Fortunately, the food industry and in particular our business did not stop. On the contrary, consumption of our products increased throughout the year, which allowed us to end a positive campaign.

In January we will start the maintenance of our four processing plants, to leave them ready for the beginning of the new harvest that should begin March 2021.

WALNUTS

Today Chile is completely sold out, the remaining balances will go to the local market. Pacific Nut is included in this, with all our  volume sold and shipped. We will face a new season with no remaining stock.

In terms of production we are certainly starting the new season in a better position than in 2020. The rains of last winter have given us greater water availability for our orchards. However, despite this good news, there are many orchards in the northern and central areas of our country that are still affected by lack of water from the previous season and have not fully recovered meaning this coming season will not reach their production potential.

The southern area is in very condition, both in terms of water and production potential, so if the favorable weather conditions are remain, we will have good volumes in this area.

The sizes look interesting with significant percentages in big sizes; 34 and up, so we expect a season with big fruit, which has been the common condition for our walnuts.

If everything continues as it is, we should expect a harvest between 140,000 to 145,000 tons, a volume that will be finalised over time once the harvest is completed, but so far looks greater than that available of 2020 which was equivalent to 130,000 tons.

PRUNES

The season for prunes is over, the industry is practically sold out and if there is any stock left, it is only big sizes such as 30/40 and some 40/50.

At Pacific Nut, we are completely sold and shipped. We will begin the new season with no remaining stock, which is not usual for us.

The production was extremely low, as the fresh plum business is reducing each year with less volume for the export of dehydrated prunes.

From the production side, we had a winter with low accumulation of chill hours, which resulted on an uneven blooming, then the high spring temperatures generated the loss of the last flowers, which resulted in fewer final fruits per tree (10% to 20 % estimated loss). This effect has been extended in the Colchagua valley area; the main productive valley for prunes nationwide.

For this season we are expecting a potential of 75,000 to 80,000 tons, minus 20,000 tons equivalent lost in the drying process, that are estimated to go to export fresh. We will face another season with low volume of approximately 55,000 to 60,000 tons, similar to the 2020 harvest; but with the difference being this new harvest we won’t have carryover, which historically has been between 10,000 and 15,000 tons.

In regards to the sizes and given that most orchards are focusing on fresh production, we expect that the sizes will again be concentrated in the medium to big sizes with little availability of small sizes.

RAISINS

Raisins have probably been one of the dehydrated fruits most affected by the pandemic, since it has not registered significant increases in consumption and the majority of consumption goes to industry, which has been greatly affected. Retail experienced an increase in consumption however it was not enough to absorb the loss of the other sectors.

Unlike the other products that we produce, with raisins we will have remaining stock. These balances will be sold during our summer period and before the production of the new crop begins.

Shipments will continue during the summer period. The plant will go into maintenance from January 1st until the beginning of February, and we plan to start production of the new crop in the second half of February.

From the production side, the first crop’s projections for 2021 are optimistic (70,000 tons), which is 11% higher than the previous harvest (63,000 tons), maintaining good fruit quality.

The concern of farmers is the shortage of labor, which today is concentrated in other higher-income fruits such as cherries. This, obviously, can delay orchard work and, without a doubt, harvest work, especially in the northern area where the grape harvest begins. If this is the case, it could affect harvest volumes.

ALMONDS

The Chilean almond, like prunes and walnuts, are fully sold and have no remaining stock. This year we had high demand from our neighboring countries, especially Argentina, which was the main destination for Chilean exports during 2020.

The drought of the previous season severely affected the development of the fruit, resulting in 2020 having a strong concentration of small sizes of 30 to 36 units per ounce and a lower harvest volume.

For this season, given the greater water availability, we hope that the sizes will be better and not as small as the previous season.

Today we expect a good harvest, certainly better than that of 2020 (10,500 tons), since we have had a good spring with good temperatures which has favored the blooming of the almond tree. We expect a production similar to 2018 which was in the order of 14,000 ton.

We realize our volume is insignificant compared to the world volume, especially that of the USA, but sufficient to supply enough to markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Latin America in which we take advantage of our preference tariff.

Pacific Nut, in its vision of constant improvement, has approved this year a new investment in infrastructure, with which we will relocate our plant of almonds together with our walnut plant. We will take the opportunity to update our machinery and increase our production capacity by 30% , meaning in this coming 2021 season we will have more and better quality products to offer.