ANKARA
Turkish hazelnut producers earned $2.5 billion from exporting 192,151 tons of hazelnuts in the ten months between 2014 and 2015, the Black Sea Hazelnut and Product Exporters' Association said Wednesday.
Hazelnuts from Turkey are mostly exported to EU countries throughout the season that began on Sept. 1, 2014, and ended on May 11, 2015.
Hazelnut producers sold nearly 40,000 tons less hazelnuts in the period, but still the country earned more, thanks to high dollar value and high nut prices.
Edip Sevinc, the association president, said prices have rocketed after the harvest in Turkey were hammered by poor weather in March and April of last year.
"Frosts hit hazelnut growing regions, in the Black sea region of Turkey, in March and April, causing low production volume last year and pushing prices up due to scarcity," Sevinc said.
The price of 1 kilogram of double-roasted hazelnuts has hit 100 Turkish lira ($40) in February.
Turkish hazelnut producers exported 232,129 tons of hazelnuts with $1.68 billion in receipts during the season in the previous year. Earnings were $2.3 billion from hazelnut exports in 2014.
Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts in the world and its production accounts for approximately 70 percent of worldwide supply.
