Hazelnut Market Update - April 22, 2020
Hazelnut market liquidity continues to be extremely limited. Turkish prices have been moving up daily with very low traded volumes.
The frost during the end of March and cold weather we encountered in early April did not affect the crop in a significant way. The sentiment locally in Turkey, however, has changed.
The overall perception of a shorter 2020-21 crop has led to hoarding from farmers and speculators. Also, most farmers have sold a significant amount of their stocks and can hold for some more time. The open market is now trading significantly higher – around 48 TL levels, against the TMO benchmark of 42 TL. TL depreciation is also playing an important part.
The market news also continues to be dominated by the CoVID 19 impact on the demand and more importantly the supply chain.
The Italian crop expectation has been reduced due to some frost news in April 1st week. The earlier estimate of the Italian crop was in excess of 120K, which now has been lowered to less than 100K.
The TL continues to depreciate sharply. The TL closed around 6.90 at the end of week 17. Currently, it is trading close to 6.95 TL/$
We have seen good export numbers even in a tough situation in March – around 40K Kernels. We still expect 60-70K MT to be in the hands of farmers/speculators – however not sure if these would be trades during the season, or carried over to the next year.
Hazelnut Market Background
Estimated World Hazelnut Production
About the Author: Gulsah Akyol is a Sales Specialist with Olam Progida, based out of our Istanbul office. She has worked in the hazelnut industry for over 8 years in both supply chain management and sales.
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