Northern hemisphere tree nut harvests progressed at a normal pace in most growing regions, yielding crops in line with overall expectations, both in terms of volume and quality. World tree nut production for the 2019/2020 season has been forecasted at about 4,538,000 metric tons (kernel basis, except pistachios in-shell), slightly up from 2018/19.

The biggest increments this season are expected for hazelnut and walnut crops. Hazelnut production is foreseen to be risen by 15% compared to the previous season to over 530,000 MT on account of increased crops from Turkey, the leading producing country, and some other origins such as France and Spain. World walnut crop has been forecasted at around 969,000 MT, 10% above the previous year due to significant rises in most producing origins.

World peanut production has been anticipated to remain within the previous season range, amounting to 40.9 million with the largest crop increments from the prior season forecasted for China, India, Brazil and USA.

The world production of dried fruit in 2019/20 has been forecasted at circa 3,283,000 MT, a growth of 5% compared to 2018/19. The greatest increments are expected for table dates (up 9% to 1,226,000 MT), prunes (up 9% to 215,800 MT) and dried figs (up 17% to 158,500 MT). AFJ