Market Reports Archive

Paprika and low heat chile varieties are trending towards a tight availability situation due to restricted crop availability from all large growing regions.

The 2021 harvest was completed by the end of October. Early estimates put total production ~12-18% below planned thresholds.

Olam’s 2021 US onion crop harvest is now about 65% complete. Harvest in the Desert finished in early August and activity has now progressed to Kern and the Central Valley.

Planting for the 2021 crop is completed and industry acreage is estimated to be similar to or slightly higher than levels planted in the previous season. Crop emergence has been normal as of date.

The 2020 US onion harvest was completed at the end of Oct. Overall industry production came in ~10-12% below planned thresholds. This fall in production was due to a sharp drop in crop yields accompanied by lower plant recoveries during dehydration.

Our 2020 US onion harvest is now more than halfway finished. While harvest volumes are coming in close to forecast, onion solids/recoveries have fallen behind plan and could result in a slight compression of the crop by the end of the season.

As of mid-April, the overall 2020 US onion crop is likely to be slightly lower (~2.6%) than 2019 levels. However, the overall crop is still in good shape. Harvest started gradually at the end of April and will be fully underway by mid-May. Harvest labor availability is adequate and has not been impacted by the COVID-19 situation.

The US CY20 onion planting is ~90% complete and planted acreage is likely to be similar to the last season. Precipitation has tapered off over the past few weeks; however, overall winter weather conditions have been favorable. No onion crop issues have been reported at this time.

Olam Spices appreciates the opportunity to supply you with the highest quality dried onion and garlic products globally. As your trusted supplier, we would like to provide you with an update on recent developments in China, with respect to the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak and its potential impact on the global onion and garlic markets.

Olam Spices appreciates the opportunity to supply you with the highest quality dried onion and garlic products globally. As your trusted supplier, we would like to give you an update on recent developments in the global onion marketplace and the potential impact on business in the coming months.

The 2019 US onion crop harvest is now ~50% complete with 100% of acreage harvested in the Desert (Imperial Valley, Southern California) and Arizona. The organic harvest was also completed on time in late May. Yields from all these regions have come in slightly better than plan, driven by improved solids.

The 2019 onion crop harvest is about 30% complete in the desert region of Southern, CA. The crop is slightly late in maturing, due to the cooler and wetter spring this season. However, crop yields are normal.

The 2019 US crop planting is 90 percent complete, and is estimated to come in 6 percent below last year. Solid rain during the past couple of months, and an above-normal snow pack has enabled the Department of Water Resources to announce water allocations at 55 percent. While no onion crop issues have been reported at this time, onion costs in California are continuing to rise due to the impact of the New Sustainable Groundwater Management Legislation, which affects grower costs, together with higher transportation, packaging and irradiation costs.

US paprika and red chile harvest began the second week of September. Labor shortages and increased costs for crop inputs, wages and freight continue to create challenges for growers and processors. Due to hot weather, intermittent rain and hailstorms during the past few months, this season’s crop and yields have been negatively impacted.

The summer green chile and jalapeño crops in the southwest US and Northern Mexico are in full production. The early transplanted acres are showing indications of bloom set, with fruit set beginning in the coming weeks. The early direct seed fields are at the thinning stages.

US harvest and processing was delayed until late-January due to weather issues in the Southwest. However, the yields remained strong – mainly as a function of the different varieties and diversified growing regions. Overall, the crop was about 10% above plan.

In the past few months, paprika and low heat chili suppliers have faced increased scrutiny from buyers in the U.S. This is the result of recent business advisory guidelines set by the government to combat the forced labor situation uncovered in Xinjiang Province — where all of China’s paprika is grown.

Many of the main paprika and chili origins like the US, Mexico, Peru, Israel, China and India and processing locations like Spain, have experienced varying levels of supply chain challenges due to the pandemic and continue to work through them.

Planting for the 2020 crop has begun in New Mexico, West Texas and Arizona. Our team has completed about 30% - 40% of the planting and should be finished in the next couple weeks.

Today, China produces about 70% of the world’s paprika in the Xinjiang region. From there, the product is delivered to Shandong province, where most of the paprika processors, exporters and speculative holders are located, to service the global demand of paprika for the rest of the year.

Harvest is 75% finished. It will continue for the rest of the year and may be extended into 2020. It has been a rough growing and harvest season – one of the most difficult in the last couple years.

The global paprika industry is currently in a phase of transition. Chinese chili farmers have been shifting from traditional paprika to a slightly hotter hybrid variety and establishing a process to ensure the availability of Chlormequat-free paprika on the market.

US, China & Peru Paprika and Chilies harvest status and 2019 outlook. Availability of high visual color paprika and chili pepper in US will be limited in 2019, in addition to the limited overall inventory availability for US Paprika and Chili Peppers. Limited overall availability of Chinese Paprika and limited acreage in Peru may cause the prices to move up as we get into the summer months.