Turkey's hazelnut exports hit record $2.219 billion as producer prices lag
Turkey earned $2.219 billion exporting 169,480 tons of hazelnut kernels between September 2025 and June 2026, according to official data cited by a chamber of agriculture head and reported by Cumhuriyet. The figures imply export prices of 615 lira per kilogram for kernels, while growers are paid just 160-170 lira, reviving a dispute over producer margins.
Turkey posts record hazelnut export revenue as producer prices lag
Turkey earned $2.219 billion from hazelnut exports between 1 September 2025 and 30 June 2026, shipping 169,480 tons of hazelnut kernels abroad, according to official state trade data made public by Atakan Akca, head of the Ordu Altinordu Chamber of Agriculture, and reported by the newspaper Cumhuriyet. Growers, Akca argues, are seeing almost none of that record at the farm gate.
Record revenue, record scrutiny
According to Akca, the export totals imply an average price of 615 Turkish lira per kilogram for hazelnut kernels and 307.5 lira per kilogram for in-shell hazelnuts. Turkey is the world's leading hazelnut supplier, and the crop is described by the chamber as the country's most important agricultural export, feeding the European chocolate and confectionery industry.
- Volume: 169,480 tons of hazelnut kernels
- Revenue: $2.219 billion
- Period: 1 September 2025 - 30 June 2026
- Implied export price: 615 lira/kg (kernel), 307.5 lira/kg (in-shell)
- Price paid to growers: 160-170 lira/kg
Squeeze on growers
Akca said hazelnuts are currently being bought from producers at 160 to 170 lira per kilogram, roughly half the implied in-shell export price and far below the kernel value. He questioned who is organizing the gap between farm-gate and export prices and called for an end to what he described as a "game" being played on the crop. The complaint reopens a recurring dispute in Turkey over how much of the hazelnut export windfall reaches the farmers who grow it, particularly in the Black Sea provinces where most output is concentrated.
What it means for confectionery buyers
For importers and chocolate manufacturers, the data confirm two things: hazelnut supply remains concentrated in Turkey, and export revenue is running at record levels in dollar terms. The wide margin between grower and export prices signals political pressure to raise farm-gate payments. Any move that lifts producer prices toward export parity would feed through to kernel costs for European buyers, who depend on Turkish supply for the bulk of their hazelnut needs. For now, the low farm-gate price keeps input costs contained, but the gap itself is becoming a policy target.
