Representatives of the Moldova Nut Growers Union note that local walnut growers’ hopes to increase demand from European buyers for in-shell varietal nuts at the end of last year did not materialize. Moreover, there was no increase in purchase requests for the Moldovan-Ukrainian Peschansky variety and highly marketable foreign selection varieties such as Chandler, Fernor, and others.
Contrary to farmers’ expectations, wholesale purchase prices for in-shell nuts did not rise above $2/kg. In the current situation, some large walnut farms have been changing their strategy since the first days of 2021. They are no longer trying to sell in-shell nuts, but are starting to process them by splitting and sorting.
As a result, the union’s experts assume additional offers for large quantities of nut kernels for export will soon appear on the country’s domestic market. Apparently, it will be hundreds of tons of not yet contracted products. It will appear on the market at the wrong moment. Usually, in the first half of January, there is a decline in external sales. Consequently, the purchase price for export kernels during this period may fall below 90-95 lei/kg ($5.10-5.40/kg).
However, the Moldova Nut Growers Union hopes that in the second half of this month the demand from exporters will increase and that walnut kernel prices will return to their usual level above 100 lei/kg ($5.70/kg).
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