TODAY.AZ / Business

Country to increase hazelnut exports to Europe

09 July 2018 [14:33] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan Hazelnut Producers and Exporters Association intends to expand the geography of hazelnut exports in the European market.

Association Chairman Ismayil Orudjov told Trend that last week AZPROMO organized an export mission to Switzerland, in which about 12 local manufacturers took part.

“In the matter of exporting products, it is important to have a bio-certificate, and in the framework of the export mission, a preliminary agreement was reached with the local exporter holding this certificate. Last year, the total export to Switzerland amounted to 22 tons. We plan to expand the export geography in the European market. In October the exporters will take part in the SIAL PARIS exhibition,” Orudjov said.

“Azerbaijan has recently expanded the list of products to which export promotion is applied, and nuts have also been added to the existing list of goods and products, so this encouragement from the state gives us a competitive advantage, and we will try to expand the geography of our exports,” he noted.

The chairman went on to say that last year the export volume of hazelnut was 20,842 tons. In the first place among the importers of hazelnuts is Italy, where it was delivered approximately 9,000 tons of peeled hazelnuts. In second place is Russia with over 6,000 tons and the third is Germany with more than 3,000 tons.

“Now we are trying to diversify the market and enter other markets, we have already begun to deliver products to Dubai and Tunisia,” Orujov said.

As for the whole volume of hazelnut production in the country, according to Orujov, if the weather conditions are acceptable, hazelnut production will be increased by 5-10 percent compared to last year’s figure, which will be about 60,000-65,000 tons.

Last year, hazelnut trees were planted in Azerbaijan on area of 18,000 hectares. Thus, the total area of hazelnut gardens in Azerbaijan has reached 55,000 hectares. The main goal is to bring their area up to 80,000 hectares.

Azerbaijan, focusing widely on an export-led growth strategy, aims to expand the list of its foreign trade partners. This year the country plans to organize some five missions to increase awareness about the local production and promote “Made in Azerbaijan” brand.

Azerbaijan has already sent export missions to Qatar, Kazakhstan, Germany, Afghanistan, the UAE and Pakistan.

Development of the non-oil sector mainly depends on the export of non-oil products and the main goal is to expand access to new markets, besides traditional markets.

The volume of non-oil exports from Azerbaijan in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to $337.7 million, which is 33.2 percent more than the same period of 2017.

In total, in this period the country exported products worth $4.6 billion.

The strategic markets for Azerbaijan are also considered to be EU, the countries of the Persian Gulf, China, the CIS countries, Turkey and Russia.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/171732.html

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