Romania
For more than two decades Romania has held a good position among the walnut-tree growing countries in Europe, with a yield of over 35.000 tons. The country is the second largest walnut producer in the European Union after France and the tenth largest producer worldwide. Production has been on the rise in Romania after EU funding became available which boosted the interest in growing walnuts.
Romania is a walnut exporter (between 7000 to 8000 MT per year), with Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands being its main European markets. Jordan and Turkey are Romania’s most important non-EU walnut markets.
Romania is also a walnut importer, the USA, Ukraine and Chile being its main suppliers.
Ukraine
The vast majority of Ukrainian walnuts are exported shelled. Ukraine annually exports around 20,000 MT of shelled walnuts. Out of this volume around 9,500 MT are being supplied to the Middle Eastern markets and around 6.000 MT to the EU. These regions retain their status as major export destinations.
The Middle East’s largest importers of shelled walnuts were: Iraq – totalling over 3,600 MT; Azerbaijan – over 1,700 MT; and Iran – over 1,300 MT. The major consumer within the EU is France, importing over 1,500 MT each year. It should be noted that Ukraine gradually returns to its traditional markets in the neighbouring countries forming the Eurasian Economic Union. Around 1,500 MT of walnuts are being exported to Belarus and it is known that Belarus is not the final destination and the majority of that volume is likely to be re-exported to Russia.
According to industry experts, the average conversion rate between shelled to in-shell walnuts in Ukraine ranges between 33% and 38%. It is expected that this ratio will improve in the future with greater commercial production development. Conversion rates for the recently established walnut orchards average at about 55%, though the share of these plantations is still relatively small, so they do not yet have much impact on the national average.
Others
Moldova is a net walnut exporter with over 10 thousand metric tons annual export out of its 40 thousand metric tons of annual production. The major market is represented by the EU countries (France, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy form the main market), USA and Turkey.
Moldova is also a processing country. French walnut producers are benefiting from the opportunity of a cracking capacity in Moldova. Moldovan processors import French walnuts, then process and re-export it back to the country of origin.
Another walnut producer in the region is Bulgaria with a production of around 10-12 thousand metric tons (inshell bases). The major export markets are Turkey, Albania, Iraq and EU countries, such as Romania, Greece, Hungary and Italy.