Despite the previous harvest of hazelnuts in Georgia being successful, the country still lacks millions of dollars of income due to quality problems. Let’s summarize the results of the previous season 2020/2021, since the new season 2021/2022 has just begun.
In the 2020/2021 season, Georgia exported hazelnuts worth $ 107 million. The export of kernels traditionally dominated in trade, and the exports amounted to just over $ 97 million (16 thousand tons). As the production of hazelnuts recovered from the insect infestation, Georgian exports also increased.
Read also: “The Georgian hazelnut would be in high demand in the US if it wasn’t for the quality” expert says
The export volumes of hazelnut kernels increased by 58%, in value terms – by 69%, and prices – by 7% compared to the average for the last three years. The hazelnut sector was generally pleased with this recovery, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
In the 2020/2021 season, Georgia could have received about $ 15 million more in revenues from the export of hazelnut kernels if quality problems had been completely eliminated. Georgian hazelnuts are usually sold at a lower price than those of the major exporter, Turkey. This difference is due to the lower quality of Georgian hazelnuts. Hazelnuts exported by Georgia in the 2020/2021 season were 6-28% cheaper.
Source: TradeMap.org, Ministry of Finance of Georgia.
The difference in the price of hazelnut kernels in the 2020/2021 season per kilogram ranged from $ 0.37 to $ 1.71 (FOB). Since 2014, the country has lost more than $ 120 million of potential income from the export of hazelnut kernels.
The use of the site materials is free if there is a direct and open for search engines hyperlink to a specific publication of the East-Fruit.com website.
