Industry Highlight: Brazil Nuts & Amazon Rainforest

Production

Bertholletia excelsa is one of the most economically significant plants of the Amazon rainforest due to its edible seeds, Amazonia nuts —most commonly known as Brazil nuts, although the world’s largest exporter is not Brazil but Bolivia. The Brazil nut tree can live for up to 1,000 years and is one of the tallest trees in the Amazon basin, reaching up to 50 m in height. Its straight, cylindrical, unbranched trunk has rough gray-brown bark with longitudinal fissures and its canopy can measure 20-30 m across.¹

Brazil nuts are harvested from natural forests. They are among the most important non-timber forest products and play an important role in the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. The nuts are an important source of income for local communities that depend directly or indirectly on the Brazil nut trade.¹

The fruit of the Brazil nut tree is a large, round capsule measuring 10-12 cm across, with a hard, woody capsule wall. Each capsule weighs 0.5-2.5 kg and contains 10-25 seeds, which have a hard shell and triangular shape, measuring about 3.5-5 cm long and 2 cm wide. The woody outer casing is so hard that only one animal, the agouti, can crack it open with its powerful jaws and sharp, chisel-like teeth. The survival of Brazil nut trees depends on the agouti, which helps with the dispersal of seeds, and on bees, which facilitate pollination.¹

Brazil nuts have a tender, rich and mild flavor. They can be consumed directly, as a snack, or used as an ingredient in baked goods, confectionery and spreads. They are also processed into oil for human consumption or for use in cosmetic products.¹

Because Brazil nuts are a wild crop, annual yield is variable and environmental factors such as temperature and rainfall can have a significant impact. At the same time, economic factors also have an impact on amount gathered: strong demand enables collectors to venture deeper into the Amazon rainforest to collect more nuts. The collection period ranges from January to April.¹

Although Bertholletia excelsa is found throughout the Amazon rainforest, all of the world’s traded production of Brazil nuts is concentrated in Bolivia, Peru and Brazil (Figure 1). Nearly 70% of the global supply comes from Bolivia’s Pando Department.

Figure 1. Brazil Nut Growing Areas

Global traded production of Brazil nuts averaged 27,600 metric tons (kernel basis) from 2019/20 to 2023/24 (Figure 2). Bolivia is the top producing country, with a five-year annual average crop of 20,440 MT (74% of global production), followed by Peru with 4,800 MT (17%) and Brazil with 2,320 MT (8%) (Figure 3). Strong demand in 2018/19 prompted harvesters to collect more nuts, leading to higher-than-usual production numbers for that season.

Figure 2. World Brazil Nut Production, Metric Tons
Source: INC.

Figure 3. Brazil Nut Production by Country, Kernel Basis, Metric Tons
Source: INC.

Trade

As local consumption is not significant in Bolivia and Peru, virtually all Brazil nuts produced in these two countries are traded. In contrast, there is some domestic consumption in Brazil, although exact figures are hard to come by.

According to data from the DESA/UNSD United Nations Comtrade Database, from 2018 to 2022, annual exports of shelled Brazil nuts from Bolivia, Peru and Brazil averaged 34,064 MT (Figure 4). Shipments from these three countries accounted for 78% of the global trade in shelled Brazil nuts over this period; re-exporters such as the European Union and the United States accounted for the remaining 22%.

Figure 4. Brazil Nut Exports by Country of Origin, Shelled, Metric Tons

Average exports of in-shell Brazil nuts from Bolivia, Peru and Brazil amounted to 8,374 MT between 2018 and 2022. During the same period, Brazil was the region’s leading in-shell exporter, with shipments averaging 7,304 MT, or 71% of the world total (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Brazil Nut Exports by Country of Origin, In-shell, Metric Tons

Peru and Bolivia are the world’s top importers of in-shell Brazil nuts, averaging 4,400 MT and 2,000 MT, respectively, between 2018 and 2022 (Figure 6). These imports, which originate in Brazil, are processed in Peru or Bolivia before being re-exported elsewhere as shelled product. China, the United States and the European Union round out the top five importers of in-shell Brazil nuts, averaging 600 MT, 560 MT and 300 MT, respectively, from 2018 to 2022.

The European Union is, by far, the top importer of shelled Brazil nuts, averaging 15,800 MT between 2018 and 2022. The second destination for shelled nuts over the same period was the United States with 6,300 MT, followed by the United Kingdom with 3,800 MT, South Korea with 2,800 MT and Australia with 1,000 MT.

Figure 6. Top Destinations of Brazil Nuts from Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, Average 2018-2022, Metric Tons
Source: DESA/UNSD United Nations Comtrade Database.

Reference

1. INC Brazil Nuts Technical Information Kit and references quoted therein.