مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Turkish Hazelnut Production and Export Competition

Abstract :

In this study, production, marketing, competition and trade conditions in Turkish hazelnut sector were examined. Hazelnut is a characteristic agricultural product of Turkey and an important input for food industry globally. Due to the upgrade usage of hazelnut in food industry, especially for chocolate production, an increase on production and trade activities is been observed in recent years. For the reason that production of hazelnut can only be performed in limited areas of few countries, this fruit has a special position in the world market. Turkey generates 70% of total hazelnut production and exportation thus affects world hazelnut sector intensively through the national policies and applications. In this study, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index which was developed by Blassa (1965) was used to identify the specialization level and comparative advantage power of Turkey on international hazelnut market. In this context, average RCA index of Turkish hazelnut trade for 2009-2011 was calculated as 95 which represent a great comparative advantage power of Turkish exportation on international market. However, competitor countries are already increasing their hazelnut production they started to be a treat for the advantage and superiority of Turkey on the world hazelnut market.