According to a report by Turkish Agri.News, Turkey’s 2023/24 hazelnut production season, which ran from Sept. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2024, has yielded good results.

In regard to the Chinese market, Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency earlier reported an 11.6% year-on-year increase in the value of the country’s exports to China between January and July of this year, with the total export revenue hitting $1.8 billion.

Over this period, Turkey sold $51.5 million worth of hazelnuts and hazelnut products to China.Most of China’s hazelnut supply originates from Turkey and the United States.

Turkish hazelnuts are typically imported as kernels, whereas those from the United States are usually imported in shell. The market shares of the two countries have shifted significantly over the past three seasons, with China’s hazelnut importers switching increasingly to Turkey.Three seasons ago, the gap between the two countries began to narrow and shipments almost reached parity in terms of value.

According to data from China Customs,  From January to August 2023, China’s imports of Turkish hazelnut kernels amounted to 1,276.5 metric tons worth 66.65 million yuan ($9.36 million), whereas those of in-shell nuts from the United States stood at 4,414 metric tons worth 52.11 million yuan ($7.32 million).Last season, the situation took a significant turn. In the first eight months of 2024, Turkey supplied China with 3,321 metric tons of hazelnut kernels valued at 193 million yuan ($27.1 million), whereas the United States shipped only 574.5 metric tons of in-shell nuts worth 8.59 million yuan ($1.21 million). Compared with the same period of the previous season, China’s import volume of hazelnuts from Turkey increased by 160%, while the import value soared by 190%.