Hazelnut Market Update December 2021 Week 50

Hazelnut prices are at an all time high due to the depreciation of the Turkish Lira which has brought on high inflation. In the past few weeks, the escalation of the currency has decreased export prices. While it was hopes that this would be primarily due to the exchange rate’s suppression of exports, foreign currency quickly became one of the reasons behind the increasing.

This led to one of the fastest increasing prices for hazelnuts in recent history, making the market extremely volatile, and turning away buyers due to the unexpected rises.

It’s difficult to say what’s going to happen. We’ve already noted that the Turkish Central Bank tried to keep afloat by selling dollars but this has clearly backfired. It is expected that the Central Bank will once again cut interest rates this week so even further currency loss is expected.

It is hard to say what the market will look like once this happens. Our guess is that we’re going to have to wait and see whether the Turkish Lira is able to stabilize itself. As it is, for now, buyers are actually bidding as per tomorrow’s prices because they know that the currency will fall. Inflationary precautions have to be taken as this will definitely affect prices too. We’ll give a more definitive report once the interest rates are cut once again. So, stay tuned.