Chia Market Update – February 2022

Over the past few months, we have seen a highly priced Chia market with no certainty on when prices will decline. Many analysts are uncertain as to whether or not there will be a very significant price drop in the near future, given that stocks are so sparse across the market. Availability issues come as South America have been experiencing droughts and fires, severely damaging crop yield. If these conditions continue into March and April, Chia planting will be heavily affected. The market hopes that rains will return to growing regions, which if they do will result in a bountiful new crop. In March/April, it will become clearer how much Chia will be planted under what conditions. This in turn will determine price movements between now and July time when new crop ships.

At present, demand remains steady. Many buyers are only covering their immediate needs given high pricing. We have only seen a very small price decline in the last few weeks, as a result of growers and packers realizing that the market is only prepared to move downwards. This is expected to happen sooner or later. There is still some supply of Chia available at origin, but most major distributors have now sold through or are completely out of stock.