At the moment, only some orchards of late French and American varieties of walnut belonging to large specialized enterprises have fruit left on the trees. Smaller nut-growing farms have already harvested the crop and, for the most part, managed to sell it.
According to Oleg Tirsină, Chairman of the Association of Nut Growers of Moldova ANRM, specialized nut-growing enterprises in the last few years prefer to sell to trading companies (for further export) varieties of nuts in the shell. In 2025, the wholesale price of nuts of French varieties (Fernor, Franket, Lara, etc.) was purchased at a wholesale price of 2.5-2.9 euros/kg, American Chandler – the “gold standard” of the world market – up to 4 euros/kg, on average – 3-3.5 euros/kg.
Prices for nuts of these highly liquid varieties this year are higher than last year, but the production costs of nut growers are also higher. The unusually long fall precipitation has contributed to the increase in production costs. On the one hand, they positively influenced the “fullness” of nut kernel, on the other hand, they required obligatory post-harvest sorting and drying of fruits. Additional costs for these operations averaged 2-3 lei/kg.
In October of the current year, nut kernels were purchased on the domestic market by wholesalers at prices ranging from 30 lei/kg (“assorted”) to 50-60 lei/kg (light halves, “butterflies”). This means a wholesale bid price for sorted nuts for the exporting trader above 100 lei/kg. For the middle month of autumn, i.e. for the beginning of the mass selling season, this is a good starting price, 10-20% above the average level for the last three years.
In 2025, according to ANRM members, the walnut harvest in Moldova will also be higher than last year’s by about 10-20%. Only early varieties of walnut orchards, mainly of local selection, were significantly affected by spring frosts. In particular, the walnut harvest of Moldovan-Ukrainian variety “Peschansky” decreased this year compared to last year by about 30%. At the same time, nut orchards of medium- and late-ripening varieties of foreign selection yielded 20-50% higher.
As a result, specialists of the nut-growing industry estimate the production of marketable walnut within 20-23 thousand tons (fruits in shell).
