The executive director of the association Portugal Nuts, Nuno Russo, expressed concerns over this year’s nut production due to an unusually rainy and cold climatic year that particularly affected March, during the flowering and pollination period.
“This March was the most rainy since 2000, with nine precipitation extremes and was further impacted by four depressions, especially storm Martinho, which recorded extremely strong gusts,” he highlighted.
Russo noted that these weather conditions “affected the flowering, hindered pollination, and prevented fruit setting,” leading to forecasts of “production declines directly linked to this climatic phenomenon.”
“The initial data we have, still estimates, suggest declines ranging from 25% to 75%, with an average of around 50%,” he informed during an event focusing on the dry fruit campaign in a walnut processing unit in Évora.
With the almond campaign nearing its end and the walnut campaign still ongoing, the entire “work and logistics” are actively underway, which currently prevents a more exact determination of the average losses, stated the director.
“We have situations with 25% and others with 85%” of almond production drops, he noted, mentioning that some producers with “new orchards entering production” show “positive results compared to the previous year.”
According to Russo, Portugal Nuts is expected to release this year’s dry fruit campaign data at the end of the month.
When asked, the director expressed doubts that the anticipated drop in almond production in Portugal would impact local consumers, as the global campaign indicates “values similar to last year.”
The national walnut campaign is expected to be “stable to good,” as per the Portugal Nuts executive.
The dry fruit sector exported 130 million euros in 2024, led by the almond sector with 100 million, reflecting a 68% increase from the previous year.
“We have emerged as one of the main dry fruit producers in Europe, particularly in almonds,” he noted, underlining that Portugal is now self-sufficient and contributes 75 million euros to the trade balance.
Russo remarked that Portugal is the second-largest almond producer in Europe and could soon rank fourth worldwide, following the United States, Australia, and Spain.
Regarding walnuts, the country is set to enter “the top 5 in Europe” soon.
Established in 2020, Portugal NUTS comprises over 50 members, including producers and processors, representing around 17,965 hectares of almonds, mostly in the southern region and Beira Interior, and approximately 1,290 hectares of walnuts.
