According to New Leaf Data Services’ Cannabis Benchmarks report, wholesale cannabis prices averaged $1,614 per pound in the first half of 2017, representing an 18.6 percent decline from the first half of 2016, when the firm found prices at $1,983 per pound.
In May, the firm released a report on the first quarter of the year which found just a $1 difference in wholesale cannabis prices compared to the new first-half numbers. Rubin indicated that the drop from 2016 prices – which fell from $1,953 per pound to $1,487 per pound – was due to a spike in prices after product from outdoor grows “has been used up.”
The most recent report indicates that the U.S. Spot Index settled within a $150 per pound price range during the first half of 2017, while it had fluctuated within a $296 per pound range during the first half of last year. Jonathan Rubin, CEO of New Leaf, said the “new pricing reality” established in the second half of last year is “marked by relative stability and a return to more conventional trends.”
The analysts found that prices are lower in states with mature adult-use programs, although demand is significantly stronger than in newly legal states. The researchers indicate this trend is due to those states permitting cannabis production “adequate to meet demand” and there are more businesses “vying fiercely for market share and consumer attention.”