8 March 2024
The macadamia industry anticipates a promising harvest of good quality and hopes demand will continue to strengthen.
With an expected harvest of just over 90 000 tons this year, South Africa’s macadamia industry continues to grow, says Macadamias South Africa (Samac), the industry body.
According to the feedback from handlers and processors, South Africa’s 2023 macadamia harvest yielded 78 091 tons of undocked, or shelled, dry nuts.
Since 2010, the industry has grown steadily, keeping the country at the forefront of macadamia production. Last year’s harvest was almost 40% more than Australia’s estimated 56 000 tons.
South Africa and Australia say their macadamia sectors anticipate nuts of better quality this year and a more receptive market with better prices. The industry has had a difficult time since Covid-19 restrictions disrupted export channels and markets.
Samac says in its latest newsletter that the increase in local yield is thanks to new plantings coming into production but points out that a smaller stock of nuts has been carried over from last year, compared to the previous harvest. Along with this, the demand for dried and undocked macadamias gives the industry hope.
Kenya, the second-largest macadamia producer in Africa, will export undocked nuts for the first time this year after the government amended a ban on the export of unprocessed nuts.
