The Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association (Samac) expects the industry’s current growth trend to continue for at least the next five to seven years.

South Africa has an estimated 19 000 ha of macadamias, with an additional 1 000 ha being planted every year, the association states in the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council world consumption and production trends global statistical review for July.

The forecast is in sharp contrast to recent statements by Green Farms Nut Company, a Samac member, that the country’s macadamia nut industry faces an uphill struggle in that up to half the country’s harvest for 2015, destined for China, will now have to find other markets.

“No one has the hard figures for this. This is just a guess,” Golden Macadamia sales and marketing manager Nico van Schalkwyk tells Engineering News.

He agrees that there is an element of truth but that the wrong message is being sent out as a result of Green Farms Nut Company’s statement.

“It is definitely not a crisis. We are still shipping to China without any problems. We shipped 70 containers and were paid for 69, and the one we weren’t paid for was sold to another customer and paid for. We have heard of defaults, but they are connected to quality,” Van Schalkwyk says, adding that the Chinese authorities are becoming stricter on quality, which is normal, as the price of macadamia nuts has reached record levels.

Green Farms Nut Company explains in its statement that the Chinese government is cracking down on corruption in the importation of agricultural products, causing South African farmers to once again confront that “opportunism in product marketing” carries immense risk.

Traders and middlemen have been found guilty of avoiding duties and China’s strict- country-of-origin regulations by either disguising the true value of meat, fish, citrus and nuts they are importing or using ports of entry in countries such as Vietnam and Hong Kong, where duties are lower or do not apply.

The fact that the grey market has been closed is an ongoing occurrence and not at all new to the industry, counters Van Schalkwyk. “Once the central government loses interest, macadamia will once again move back to the grey market, which has happened several times in the past decade.”

He stresses that there is nothing wrong with the market in China – it is doing well and people are still eating macadamias.

“[However,] there is a lot of politics in our industry,” Van Schalkwyk says.

The company says South African producers, processors and marketers have steadily increased their exports to China to 50%, adding that, of the four largest local producers, one has been exporting more than 90% of its stock to China, another 70% and a third 50%.

Van Schalkwyk emphasises that record prices are being paid for macadamia nuts and that there is no oversupply – there is actually a shortage.