The January Position Report was released Tuesday February 11th. Total shipments for the month were 220.50 million pounds setting a new record for the month of January. This is up 5.2% from last year which held the previous shipment record of 209.61 million pounds. Export shipments were 149.32 million pounds which were 3.5% higher than this time last year. Domestic shipments came in at 71.17 million pounds and increased 7.7% over January last season. Shipments were very strong last month and set new records for both export and domestic.
The 2019 year to date crop receipts are now 2,509,165,276 pounds. When compared to last year deliveries are up 11.45%. There are still a few processors hulling and shelling into February which could bring the final crop size anywhere from 2.52-2.55 billion pounds.
Based on a 2.53 billion pound crop the industry is currently 67% sold which puts us very close to the 68% sold position from this time last year.
The strong shipping numbers feel like they are getting slightly overlooked this report, with most of the focus on the growing size of the record crop. Since the release of the report things have been quiet on the buying and selling side. Many in the industry view the report as neutral, while others feel that it could drive pricing down another $0.05 per pound over the next couple of weeks. Buyers are also looking at the favorable bloom conditions that have been forecasted for the next few weeks and have already started planning for another large crop in 2020. Over the next few days we should see sales pick back up and will see where pricing lands.
