TREE NUTS 



Record Almond Crop 



The 1976 California almond crop is expected to 

 total a record 210,000 tons (in shell basis), 31 per- 

 cent above last year and 11 percent above the 

 record 1974 crop. This year's crop is expected to 

 yield 255 million pounds of nut meats. Weather 

 conditions generally have been ideal for the crop 

 thus far, with good nut sets in most areas. 



Both domestic and foreign shipments so far 

 during 1975/76 have shown substantial 

 improvement from a year ago according to the 

 Almond Control Board. During the first 10 months 

 of the 1975/76 season, domestic shipments were 

 almost one-third more than the corresponding 

 period of last season. Total exports of shelled 

 almonds during the same period were 104 million 

 pounds, an increase of 14 percent from a year ago. 

 The increase reflects the larger shipments to Japan 

 which has bought more than twice as much as a 

 year ago but still less than during the same period 

 two years ago. Substantial increases in exports to 

 France and United Kingdom were also recorded 

 while total shipments to West Germany, our prin- 

 cipal market, have declined considerably. The 

 increase in export demand for U.S. almonds 



resulted in part from increasing industry pro- 

 motional activities. 



With the general economy strengthening both 

 here and abroad, total movement of almonds is 

 expected to continue to improve for the remainder 

 of the season. Thus, even with a moderately larger 

 supply at the beginning of the season, total carry- 

 over into the 1976/77 marketing season is expected 

 to be considerably smaller than last season. 

 Although there are no formal opening prices cur- 

 rently for the 1976 crop, prices are not likely to be 

 substantially below year-earlier levels despite the 

 record crop. 



Substantially Larger Walnut Movement 



Shipments of walnuts have also registered sub- 

 stantial increases in both domestic and foreign 

 markets. Sharp increases in exports were recorded 

 to the European markets in spite of larger crops in 

 India and Italy. Thus, even with a record large 

 1975 crop, unsold inventories for both unshelled 

 and shelled walnuts held by walnut handlers going 

 into the 1976/77 season are expected to be well 

 below a year earlier. 



18 TFS-199, JUNE 1976 



