Pine nuts: added to the list of strategic goods
May 11, 2023 at 11:05 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
Smuggling to be stopped
The majority of the world's harvested pine nut crop takes place in China (2022: 25,000 mt) and Russia (2022: 35,000 mt). Nevertheless, Russia has problems with illegal imports of in-shell pine nuts from Korea (2022: 20,000 mt), which is also in the upper echelons of pine nut producers. As a result, the Russian Ministry of Justice has now launched a draft that would add Korean pine nuts to the list of strategically important goods. "The proposed amendments will make it possible to bring to justice those who illegally transport Korean in-shell pine nuts worth more than 1 million roubles across the border of the Russian Federation," the report says. Regular commercial trade with Korean pine nuts would not be affected, the Justice Ministry stressed. The aim is to ensure the protection of the cedar forests and the animals living there and to prevent smuggling activities in order to promote legal trade.
Meanwhile, export prices for Chinese pine nuts dropped significantly at the end of 2022. In the meantime, they had reached a level of more than USD 30/kg; current quotations for Pinus sibirica, 950 pcs./100 g are around USD 18.65/kg CFR EMP.
Pine nuts, China |
|
Type |
USD/kg |
Red, 650 pcs./100 g |
26.65 |
Pinus sibirica, 950 pcs./100 g |
18.65 |
CFR EMP |
EU imports almost 10,000 mt of pine nuts
In addition to China and Russia, the EU imports pine nuts mainly from Turkey and Mongolia. The import of unshelled pine nuts, at just over 200 mt, is of little significance here; the majority of imports are shelled pine nuts. In total, the EU imported 9,607 mt of shelled pine nuts worth EUR 230.26 million in 2022. The average import price was EUR 23.97/kg. At 6,879 mt, more than two-thirds of imports into the EU came from China, followed by Russia and Turkey with 1,773 mt and 408 mt each.
Pine nut* imports, EU, 2022 |
|||
Supplier |
mt |
Mio. EUR |
EUR/kg |
China |
6,879 |
161.13 |
23.42 |
Russia |
1,773 |
39.04 |
22.02 |
Turkey |
408 |
18.88 |
46.27 |
Mongolia |
302 |
6.07 |
20.11 |
Pakistan |
105 |
2.49 |
23.73 |
Others |
140 |
2.64 |
- |
Total |
9,607 |
230.26 |
23.97 |
European Commission / Eurostat (Comext) *08029200 Fresh or dried pine nuts, shelled |
*Due to a change in the HS code for pine nuts from 2021 to 2022, a direct year-on-year comparison is currently not possible.
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