Hazelnut Harvesting Starts in Turkey as September Comes Close

Published 2021년 8월 31일

TRIDGE’s Weekly Trend Analysis tracks patterns in traffic behavior, giving insight into notable events in the agricultural industry. According to data from Week 4 of August, a 1-year record high surge in daily traffic to Hazelnut pages has been recorded with the interest of Turkish users in the product continuously maintained.

Turkey is an important hazelnut supplying country globally, representing approximately 75% of global hazelnut production. They are grown across 14 provinces of Turkey which have a suitable temperature and agro-climatic condition for hazelnut production. Throughout the last 10 years (2009-2019), the area harvested increased by 73.3% and reached 734 thousand ha in 2019. During the same year, hazelnut production was roughly 77.6 thousand tonnes, showing a 50.6% increase from the previous year. Turkey witnesses a lot of fluctuation in annual production due to late spring frost and other climatic conditions. The varying production volumes result in frequent price fluctuations in the domestic and international hazelnut prices. The country consumes only 15-20% of the crop domestically and the remaining portion is exported to the rest of the world.

Harvesting and export season of hazelnuts has started in Turkey across different producing regions in the country. The first harvest of the season took place in Hizan district of Turkey which has an annual yield of roughly 700-750 tons. The hazelnuts provide revenue of roughly USD 360 thousand to 350 employees in the village. The yield this year is satisfactory and the production seems to be up to the market. Similarly, hazelnut yield is above satisfactory in the Samsun region which is also a major producer of hazelnuts in the country. The ministry has announced the base price of hazelnut as USD 3.3 per kg. The hazelnuts from both regions have a high demand in the global market due to their high quality. It is expected that the hazelnuts produced in the region will be consumed in the domestic market at around USD 3.5-3.8 per kg which is 15 - 20% more than the prices set for hazelnuts across Turkey.

Source: Tridge.

Turkey exported 185,147 tons of hazelnut during the last season’s peak export period - September 2020 - March 2021. The export volume was down from 249,971 tons in the same period of last season. Turkey reaped USD 1.3 billion from hazelnut exports during the same period, 20.5% less than the revenue generated between September 2020 and March 2021. Out of all the exports, 40% of the country's hazelnut exports were processed products worth USD 555.8 million while the remaining were raw hazelnuts. Turkey exports hazelnuts mainly to Europe with Germany the topmost importer followed by Italy and Canada. During the last export season, the EU alone imported 135,870 tons of Turkish hazelnuts.

Even though the country has managed to become the largest exporter of hazelnuts it continues to battle with the drying of the hazelnuts. During the post-harvest period, there is rainy and cloudy weather across the country due to which the nuts face the risk of mold. The presence of mold increases the aflatoxin ratio in the nuts making them not suitable for global exports. With satisfactory production across two hazelnut production regions of the country, it is expected that the country’s exports will recover from the dip seen in 2020. However, the weather conditions across the Black Sea will determine the extent of improvement in hazelnut exports as the drying process is a crucial process of the value chain of hazelnut exports.