California walnut imports witness sharp uptick after India's tariff removal

Chile is currently the top walnut supplier to India

The California walnuts shipped from the US to India have seen a sharp uptick with imports more than doubling from September to November against the same period last year. This comes after New Delhi removed its retaliatory customs tariffs on the key dry fruit.

Two days ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit on September 9-10, India dropped additional customs duties on about half a dozen US goods that were imposed in 2019 in response to America raising tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products coming from India.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to the US in June this year, both India and America agreed to terminate six World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes and also remove the retaliatory tariffs on some US products, including walnuts.

“When we look at our shipments, at this time last year, about 3.3 million pounds (1,496 metric tonnes) were shipped into India, and we are at 7.8 million pounds (3,538 metric tonnes) now. So, we’ve more than doubled. We really won't know what the total shipment amount will be until around May-June next year,” Pamela Graviet, senior director, global programmes, California Walnut Commission (CWC) and Board, told Business Standard.

California walnuts are harvested from September to November and are shipped year-round. They account for 99 per cent of the total US production and nearly 50 per cent of the world trade.

Germany is the top export market, followed by West Asia and Turkiye. Exports to India, which started in 2013, peaked during 2016-17 at 14,385 metric tonnes. The imports dropped to just 3,552 metric tonnes in 2021-22, largely because of high tariffs, crop challenges and Covid, which disrupted the global supply chains, according to the CWC data.  

As the market share of California walnuts went down in India from 69.9 per cent in 2017-18 to 14.8 per cent in FY23, other countries benefited from India’s imposition of additional duties on American products. Currently, Chile is the largest exporter of walnuts to India at 75.3 per cent share in FY23 from 29.7 per cent in FY18, according to the ministry of commerce data.

To reclaim its market share in India, the California industry has adopted a slew of measures. These include roping in food connoisseurs, dieticians, researchers and social media influencers, to create awareness about the nutritional and medicinal benefits of walnuts.

Robert Verloop, executive director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the California Walnut Board and CWC, said the organisation has been investing about a million dollars a year since 2013 when it started exporting to India to help educate consumers and trade members.

“We've seen a lot of success by marrying some of the international flavours, recipes and ideas with Indian recipes and ideas. It has helped people to start consuming more walnuts. The growth curve has been slow but will start to accelerate. Partially, because people have so much better buying power nowadays,” he said.

Graviet said the demand for walnuts has been growing in India as more people learn about their health benefits and are including them in different recipes. The demand for walnuts, which are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, accelerates around festivals like Diwali and Christmas.

“When you look at consumption, it was about 20,000 metric tonnes 10 years ago from local production. Today, it is about 72,000 metric tonnes. There’s been a really nice steady growth over those 10 years as people are becoming more and more interested in adding walnuts to their food,” she added.

BIGGER BITE

• Walnut exports to India started in 2013
• Highest exports to India in 2016-17 at 14,385 metric tonnes
• Exports fell to 3,552 metric tonnes in 2021-22 (California Walnut Commission data)
• Market share of California walnuts in India during 2017-18 was 69.9%
• It fell to 14.8 per cent in FY23
• Chile’s share went up from 29.7% in FY18 to 75.3% in FY23 (ministry of commerce data)