Walnuts: hike in production in China
October 17, 2022 at 12:16 PM,
Der AUDITOR
Rebound after frost
In the "Tree Nuts Annual" report FAS reckons that China's commercial inshell walnuts prodcutions will rebound by 27% to 1.4 million mt in 2022/2023. The rebound is mainly driven by the recovery in production in Xinjiang province, China's largest growing region for walnuts. Spring frosts prompted a 20% decline in production here last year. Although prospects are also highly encouraging in the mountainous Yunnan province, high labour costs and low farmgate prices, however, render harvesting less attractive here. If traders fail to offer higher prices, the farmers are not able to hire labourers for the harvest. China's actual walnut production, in fact, ranges much higher than the commercial one.
Better quality
FAS, in addition, expects the quality of this year's walnut production to be above average in Xinjiang. As most orchards are located on flatllands it is less costly for farmer to manage and harevst their crops. The varieties produced here also have thin shells, large sizes and light kernel colours. Production in the mountainous areas of Yunnan is, by contrast, much more difficult and the farmers have failed to invest in yields or quality. The walnuts grown in China tend to have a bitter taste and the country imports milder varieties such as Chandler, which is trading at EUR 2.28-4.70/kg (USD 2.23-4.60/kg) in Europe depending on size.
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Walnuts |
||
|
Chandler, origin |
EUR/kg |
USD/kg |
|
inshell, 30-32 mm, Chile |
2.28 |
2.23 |
|
inshell, 30-34 mm, Chile |
2.38 |
2.33 |
|
LHP, 20%, USA |
4.70 |
4.60 |
|
FCA Spain |
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