Almond shipments for May were 67.3 million pounds compared to 69.2 million pounds for last May. A reduction of 1.9 million pounds in shipments for May should be viewed as impressive considering the price levels and lack of availability on some items. Most Industry sources were bracing for a bigger drop-off in shipments for May. Total shipments for this year are down 13 million pounds compared to last year’s record of 876.1 million pounds for the same period. Commitments (sold but not shipped) sit at 127.8 million pounds. Assuming most of those sales will go out over the next two months that should insure our industry of shipping 1 billion pounds. That is tremendous!

Once again it’s time for us to announce our final Pool prices on the 2004 crop. What a “ride” this year has been in the almond market! From the time we began selling the 2004 crop until we completed the last sales, the market moved up 100%, or $2.00 per pound! We have never experienced this kind of increase before. Realizing such an extreme price swing demonstrates the importance of market timing or when to “pull the trigger”. Let’s face it, there is some luck involved. With that said, below is a list of the final Pool prices on the 2004 crop. The total amounts include a $.02 multi-year contract bonus, which represents over 95% of our pool production.

	Variety	Type	Final Pool Price
	Nonpareil	Meats & Inshell	$2.60
	Sonora	Inshell	$2.60
	Sonora	Meats	$2.41
	Carmel	Meats & Inshell	$2.40
	Monterey	Inshell	$2.40
	Monterey & Mixed Carmel/Monterey	Meats	$2.39
	Butte , Padre & California Variety	Meats	$2.35
	Mission	Meats	$2.33

We feel the above prices will stand up strong against our competition when they begin to make their final payment over the next five months. We appreciate your business and would like to thank you for your continued support. Checks will be mailed out on July 1, 2005 . Please call the office if you wish to pick up your check.

 

Buyers & Sellers of Quality California Almonds