Walnuts: A success story
April 26, 2017 at 8:26 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
In recent years, the production figures for US walnuts rose continuously and reached a new record high in 2016 at 616,923 mt. According to a study by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), around 315,000 ha of bearing walnut trees were registered in California in 2016, accompanied by about 60,000-65,000 ha of non-bearing trees.
US walnut production |
|
Season |
mt |
2016/17 |
616,923 |
2015/16 |
546,218 |
2014/15 |
510,307 |
2013/14 |
443,600 |
2012/13 |
449,095 |
Source: Walnut Board |
Exports decoded
Since the beginning of the season, a total of 306,769 t of US walnuts were delivered, an increase of 29% compared to last year. Until now, 57,750 t (+14%) were sold on the domestic market, and deliveries to Europe even rose by more than one third within this period. The biggest leap by far was achieved by Italian suppliers, as they increased their imports by 48% to 25,920 t. But the two other large customers on the European market, Germany and Spain, also increased their imports respectively by 20% to 24.452 t and by 18% to 16,809 t. In contrast, exports to Central and South America are trailing far behind.
US walnut exports in mt |
|||
Country |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
Diff. |
Europe |
59,493 |
76,271 |
28% |
Asia/Oceania |
64,212 |
79,989 |
25% |
Africa/Middle East |
54,731 |
83,265 |
52% |
Central/South America |
525 |
169 |
-68% |
North America |
57,094 |
63,389 |
11% |
Other |
1,188 |
3,687 |
210% |
Total |
237,244 |
306,769 |
29% |
Since the beginning of the season |