The signs of shrinkage in the canned pineapple market have not eased. Demand will still exceed supply this year, and prices will remain high. Affected by El Nio, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, the three largest canned pineapple producers in the world, have reduced their production to the lowest level, thus bringing the global pineapple canned market to the lowest level. Even if Kenya's pineapple canned exports reached an all-time high in 2015, it will inevitably face the current dilemma. "There has never been a situation in which the three major suppliers of canned pineapple (Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines) have serious problems at the same time," said a British importer. In February, Thailand's pineapple Canners reported that they bought pineapple growers at 10-12 baht/kg (equivalent to $0.28-0.33/kg), which was $1 higher than the average price at the end of last year. However, good quality pineapple prices have surpassed the record of 14.5 baht/kg in October last year, soaring to a record high of 16.0 baht/kg. Because of the shortage of high quality pineapple raw materials, the prices of canned pineapple with two kinds of sugar water reached the highest record. Among them, 24 x 20oz canned pineapple with sugar water was quoted at $16.0 per box in Bangkok and 6 x A10 (3kg) canned pineapple with sugar water was quoted at $20.0 per box in Bangkok. That's $1 more than the December quotation, when it was delivered in January. Canned pineapple juice of these two specifications is more expensive by $3-4 per carton, and due to shortages, these products usually pay a premium of $1-2 per carton.

 

Thailand is the world's largest producer of canned pineapple, with pineapple production entering a fourth consecutive year, which is almost unprecedented. The Thai Pineapple Industry Association estimates that Thailand's total pineapple production this year is 1.89 million tons, an increase of 6% compared with 2015, of which about 150 tons are used to process canned pineapples. Even if this forecast is reached, it is still far below the annual output of 2 million tons of pineapple in normal years. According to the latest data from Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture, the area under pineapple cultivation in the region is 72,800 hectares, which is higher than that in 2015, but 8.5% lower than that in 2014. In the past four years, the planting area has decreased by 33,600 hectares, or 32%, while in 2011, the planting area of pineapple reached 105,600 hectares, which can produce about 2.6 million tons of pineapple. The decrease of planting area may be due to land development and sale, shortage of manpower, low price of pineapple and limited use of pineapple raw materials. Some insiders pointed out that, attracted by the current high price of raw materials, Thai farmers are turning back to planting pineapples.

 

But at least until 2018, combined with the increase of 800 hectares in 2016, the total yield will remain unchanged, as pineapple plants take two or more years to blossom and bear fruit.