The National Forum of Walnut Growers of Moldova was held in Chisinau, where the participants expressed their satisfaction with the improved situation on the walnut market in the autumn-winter of 2023. Compared to the same period last year, the wholesale prices for walnuts in shell and walnut kernels of ordinary quality have increased by 15-25% since the second half of October. However, the demand is still higher than the supply, and traders-exporters are struggling to find enough products from the free market to meet their orders, according to EastFruit.
The wholesale prices for varietal nuts vary depending on the quality and origin of the products. The nuts in shell of local and French varieties are sold for $1.95-2.1/kg, while the high-quality Chandler nuts are priced at $2.4-2.7/kg. The light halves of nut kernels are bought by exporters at 90-100 lei/kg ($5-5.54/kg).
Read also: Fresh apple stocks in Moldova by the end of December 2023 will be lower than expected
The Association of Nut Growers of Moldova (ANRM) reports that the local exporters have already used up the duty-free quota-2023 of 1.2 thousand tons for the supply of walnuts to Turkey by the end of November. However, the export of this product to the Turkish market is still ongoing. Last year, Moldova exported a little more than 1 thousand tons of nuts in shell and about 660 tons of nut kernels to Turkey. Turkey has become one of the important markets for Moldovan nuts in the last two years, ranking fifth or sixth among the buyers of this product.
Another fast-growing market for Moldovan nuts in the current marketing year is Italy. The ANRM estimates that by the end of 2023, at least 300 tons of walnuts in shell and a similar amount of nut kernels will be shipped to the Italian market. This is three times more than the amount of walnuts that Moldova sent to Italy last year.
France, Germany, and Austria remain the top three buyers of Moldovan nuts in the current year, as they were in the past.
