First half of 2021 has been a challenge for canned food business in Thailand as aresult from various factors such as the outbreak of Covid-19, disruption on the ocean freight, global shortage of tin plate and so on. Here is a quick outlook and what to be expected in 2021 from Food news:

Total supply of pineapple raw material in Thailand ended approximately at 600,000MT for the first half of 2021 which is 30% increase comparing to the same period in 2020. Nevertheless, the volume is still considered to be less than 2019 by 30%. On the export side from Thailand to the world, the volume has reached 163,000MT for canned pineapple and 20,7000MT for pineapple juice concentrate respectively during January to May 2021.

As of today (29-Jul), off season for pineapple has already begun as more and more canneries shut down for annual maintenance starting from Mid of July, and are expected to resume production in September.

Price wise, raw material price is expected to be at THB 8.50 in August and should increase to THB 9.00-9.50 in September. While the raw material in July is expected to be around 45,000MT, the supply in August is expected to be plummeted and hardly touch 8,000MT level. On top of raw material price increase, all canneries are facing a huge increase of empty can and sugar price in Quarter 4. It will be a very challenging period for Thai packers to deal with.

As many countries have access to Covid-19vaccines, food service segment has shown a good sign of recovery while retail demand has softened overtime comparing to a big surge last year.

Main obstacle for second half of 2021 will still be on the logistic as the equipment remained shortage resulted in high ocean freight price.

Reference:

Estela, C. (2021). Thai pineapple processing to temporarily stop for the annual maintenance break

Agricultural commodity markets review for H1 (2021). Half Year Outlook 2021