Germany top importer of Turkish hazelnuts

Germany was the top customer for Turkish hazelnuts, importing nearly 70,000 tonnes in the 2018 season, according to Black Sea Hazelnut and Products Exporters’ Union (KFMIB) data. Germany has remained at the spot for the past nine years, data compiled by Anadolu Agency showed. Turkey earned some $424.9 million from hazelnut exports to Germany in the September 2017-August 2018 cultivation season. Italy and France followed Germany with over 57,000 tonnes and 20,000 tonnes, respectively. Overall, around 75 percent of Turkey’s hazelnut exports were made to EU countries, amounting to around $1.3 billion.

The country exported nearly 287,000 tonnes of hazelnuts to 119 countries during the export season, making $1.78 billion in revenue. The export volume between September 2017 and August 2018 saw a 21.6 percent jump in the same period from a year earlier. Edip Sevinc, chairman of the KFMIB, said that export figures met exporters’ expectations. “The rise in hazelnut exports on a tonnage basis, is a hopeful indication of Turkish hazelnut’s consumption in external markets,” he told Anadolu Agency.