Ilyas Edip Sevinc, head of the Black Sea Hazelnut & Products Exporters' Union (KFMIB) said: "We expect to export more hazelnuts in 2019. The first signs in the orchards look promising. If everything goes as expected, we will have a higher yield this season."
Hazelnut exporters expect an increased production and export in 2019. Sevinc said that hazelnut exporters are optimistic about the new year.
Sevinc emphasized that hazelnut is a strong export product for Turkey and said: "The country earns on average 2,5 billion USD (2,18 billion Euro) every year. For the last ten years, this revenue amounts to 21,5 billion USD (18,75 billion Euro). Therefore, hazelnuts stand out as an important export product for Turkey."
Reminding us that 2018 wasn't a good year for hazelnut exporters, Sevinc said: "Our export of hazelnuts has decreased by 10% compared to previous year. Due to the currency crisis, we couldn't earn as much as we expected."
"Turkey has a great capacity for producing hazelnuts. If we cannot increase Turkish hazelnuts production, then there must be a problem. In 2018, yields were lower but we expect 2019 to be a better year in terms of exports. We hope that we will increase our production and export more this year." Sevinc added.
"We care about the agricultural productivity"
Sevinc stressed the importance of the volume of production and productivity and said that productivity in the orchards can be as low as 90 kilograms per 0,1 hectare:
"Our gardens are getting older. We should to take care of them, we need new saplings too. We should also plant new varieties of hazelnuts which can easily adapt to the climate. In order to reach the desired volume of export, first we need to invest in the product and we need to produce."
"The National Hazelnut Council advertising campaign"
Sevinc announced that the preparations for an advertising campaign for 2019 are underway. He also expressed his satisfaction with China'a interest in Turkish hazelnuts:
"The National Hazelnut Council is getting ready to start a series of promotions. India, North African countries, Russia, Brazil and Mexico will all be part of this campaign. I hope that we can achieve good results as we did with China. However, it is not easy to achieve that in a couple of years."
Stating that China is among the top 10 countries to import Turkish hazelnuts, Sevinc said: "Last year we exported 8 thousand tons of hazelnuts to China and we are about to reach a total revenue of 60 million USD (52,3 million Euro). We aim to increase our export to 10 thousand tons and then to 50 thousand tons. We owe this success to 18 years of marketing efforts. It is not an easy task, but we believe that we can do this. If we achieve higher yields and if our exporters can be more successful we can reach our record export number, last achieved in 2012, with 300 thousand tons. In two years, we can achieve this number again. Therefore, our priority is increasing the yields and productivity."
Source: Dunya