Exports of hazelnuts from Turkey in the first 10 months of this year brought the country $1.3 billion.
Hazelnuts are grown in 13 provinces of the country: Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Duzce, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Artvin, Bartin, Kocaeli, Sinop, Gumushkhan, Kastamonu and Rize.
The largest volume is produced in the province of Ordu in the Black Sea strip of Anatolia.
The export of Turkish hazelnuts during this period amounted to 239,934 tons in kind and about $1.326 billion in monetary terms. Turkey exported hazelnuts to 129 countries and free zones in the first 10 months, with high volumes supplied to Germany, Italy and France.
The volume of hazelnut exports amounted to about 700,000 tons last year, while by the end of 2022 exports are expected to be at the level of 765,000 tons.
Chairman of the National Hazelnut Council Sebahattin Arslanturk told the Anadolu Agency that hazelnuts are produced in 13 provinces on 725,000 ha.
According to him, the annual income of the industry is about $2.5 billion. “Our goal is to reach at least $5 billion. It is very easy to achieve this if we increase productivity and product quality,” Arslanturk said.
According to Arslanturk, the goal is not only to increase production but also exports. “We intend to increase production from 700,000 tons to 1 million tonnes in the next 5-10 years. In addition, we intend to increase exports. At the initial stage, we plan to increase export revenues to more than $3 billion, and then reach the level of $5 billion,” he said.
For more information: east-fruit.com