By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL 

Turkey sold nearly 144,000 tons of hazelnuts abroad in the first five months of the export season, the Black Sea Exporters Association said on Monday.

The volume of hazelnut exports between last September and this January fell 3.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Turkey earned $809.4 million in hazelnut exports during the same period, down 15.2 percent.

EU countries remained the top export market for Turkish hazelnuts, buying nearly 77 percent, or 110,262 tons, of Turkey's total hazelnut exports over the five months.

Turkey, the world's largest hazelnut exporter, earned $1.78 billion with nearly 287,000 tons of hazelnut exports last season, from September 2017 to the end of August 2018.