The 2021/22 Winter pineapple crop in Thailand is now complete with production slightly lower than expected. The main processing factories say they are now achieving less than 200 tonnes of fruit per day. There is no competition for fruit though, slower demand for juice from the global market, coupled with relatively high prices for fruit meant that processors only produced to order this season. The risk of producing speculative stocks was too high.
As mentioned in earlier editions of our newsletter, there are still problems with low ratios due to the colder weather in Thailand. The lack of sugar in the fruit has led to ratios registering at only 16-17 – the key market buyers prefer supplies above 20 and ideally 24-30 ratio.
Current pricing for raw materials are difficult to pin down, but are somewhere between THB 6.00-10.00/kg, compared with THB 6.00/kg last month. Fruit prices will go up as usual during the gap between the Winter and Summer crops, but volumes will be limited.
