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Pistachios: Expectations for the 2017 crop

May 24, 2017 at 3:24 PM , Der AUDITOR
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SACRAMENTO. During the International Nuts and Dried Fruits Congress 2017 (INC), participants also offered an outlook on the global pistachio production for 2017.

Sweeping blow
The year 2016 supplied the US pistachio market and therefore all potential import countries with a record crop. Turkey was also pleased with good production volumes, while the yields in Iranian growing areas collapsed. Together with the surpluses from last year, around 838,870 mt of pistachios were available for the 2016/17 season.

The Iranian pistachio production should recover again in 2017, while the USA and Turkey will probably not perform nearly as well as last year. In combination with the surplus stocks, there should still be 770,000 mt of pistachios available on the international market for the upcoming season. Global consumption is estimated at around 680,000 mt.  

Top 5 pistachio producers

Country

2017

2016

Iran

250,000

153,000

USA

236,735

409,429

Turkey

90,000

135,000

Syria

17,000

20,000

Afghanistan

5,000

5,000

World

607,435

735,129

Source: INC 2017

Export overview
Thanks to the good crop in 2016, US exporters were able to increase their exports many times over in this season. Altogether since the beginning of the season, 144,548 mt of US pistachios were delivered to foreign countries, in addition to the 60,000 mt that were sold on the domestic market.

After Asia, Europe is the most important export market for US pistachios. Within one year, European buyers have increased their imports by 69% to 38,852 mt. The most important European import countries are Germany (11,500 mt), the Netherlands (6,150 mt) and Belgium (5,300 mt). These three countries combined import almost half of the total exports to Europe.

US pistachio exports in mt

Country

2015/16

2016/17

Diff.

Europe

23,001

38,852

69%

Asia/Oceania

14,123

86,483

512%

Africa/Middle East

1,992

10,876

446%

Central/South America

305

567

86%

North America

3,423

6,222

82%

Other

167

1,548

827%

Total

43,011

144,548

236%

Since the beginning of the season

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