Photo: Johnson Wang/Unsplash
The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) reported July 2022 data recently, detailing sales, licensing, and production in the state’s adult use and medical cannabis markets. Combined adult use and medical sales were $209.9 million, up 12% from June 2022 combined sales of $187.4 million and up 22.7% from July 2021 combined sales of $171 million.
Michigan spot prices have steadied after a massive sell-off that commenced in fall 2021. Locals had put the initial sell-off down to an unexpectedly large outdoor harvest. However, the magnitude of the price drop – 58% – suggested several factors were weighing on price, including uncapped licensing and a frantic money raise by some of the larger operators as borrowed funds came due in January 2022.
The Cannabis Benchmarks Michigan Spot Index shows prices have steadied over the past four weeks and have gained about 1%. That said, greenhouse flower prices have fallen about $21 per pound in the same time frame, while indoor prices have risen about $82. The downtrend has not reversed, but the bleeding has slowed, thanks in part to a post-pandemic rebound in summer tourism.
July 2022 adult use sales, at $188.8 million, surged 13.8% from June 2022 sales of $165.9 million and are up 47.1% from July 2021 sales of $128.3 million. The July jump in sales established a new record and is the largest spike in adult use sales in the state since a 33.4% jump in April 2022.
July average daily sales topped $6 million, up 10.1% from June 2022 average daily sales of $5.5 million and up 47.1% from July 2021 average daily sales of $4.1 million.
July 2022 flower sales volume jumped 12.6% to 46,777 pounds from June 2022 sales of 41,541 pounds and is up 156.5% from 18,235 pounds sold in July 2021.
July 2022 flower sales were $91 million, up 11.2% from $81.4 million in June 2022 and up 43.1% from July 2021 sales of $63.6 million.
Inventory held by growers that has passed the state’s required testing was 61,174 pounds at the end of July 2022, down 3.2% from 63,221 pounds held at growers in June 2022. Combined with flower held in inventory at retailers – 61,828 pounds – the amount of immediately marketable flower in Michigan’s adult use system at the end of July 2022 was 123,002 pounds, or just over 2.6 months of supply based on July sales of 46,777 pounds.
The number of plants reared and harvested in the most recent three months is shown in the table below. Vegetative and flowering plant counts jumped in July 2022, with the large increase in the former portending what looks to be a robust outdoor harvest come this fall. The number of harvested plants fell in July as the state’s tourism season winds down.
The average retail flower ounce price continued to trend lower behind very large drops in wholesale prices since last fall. July 2022’s average retail flower price was $121.58 per ounce, down $0.72 from June, a much smaller price drop than the previous two months when flower prices fell an average of $5.38 an ounce per month. With wholesale prices losing over 50% since November 2021, the drop in retail prices has been rather conservative.
Flower ounce prices and extrapolated pound prices for the last three months are listed below.