Kenya's 2024 macadamia export records separate China's in-shell market from US kernel sales

Kenya's 2024 macadamia export records point to two different destination markets. Among the directly reported named-partner rows in the UN Comtrade extract reviewed for this report, China has the largest in-shell net weight, while the United States leads the shelled category. Treating both product forms as one volume obscures that distinction.

The China row records 15,872,600 kg under HS 080261, macadamias fresh or dried in shell. The United States row records 3,187,330 kg under HS 080262, macadamias fresh or dried shelled. These are annual net-weight entries in kilograms, not numbers of shipments, orchard production or like-for-like kernel equivalents.

The shelled rows also record 1,088,230 kg for the Netherlands and 720,282 kg for Germany. China appears in that product category too, at 571,776 kg. A destination listed in trade statistics does not identify the final consumer, a named buyer or a particular processor.

The fresh extract contains eight named-partner rows for in-shell macadamias and thirty for shelled macadamias. Each of those rows is marked directly reported and non-aggregate, with net weight not estimated. Separate World rows are marked aggregate and not directly reported; they are excluded from the partner comparison here. We do not add the two product forms or convert in-shell weight into kernels.

For growers, processors and buyers, the practical reading is to specify product form and reporting year before comparing destinations. An in-shell destination ranking cannot describe the kernel market. These records cover 2024; they do not establish today's sales mix, current shipment eligibility or a forecast for 2026.

This report uses a fresh public UN Comtrade annual extract retrieved on 7 October 2026. The response does not provide a source publication date, so that date remains unknown. The reviewed slice is limited to Kenya as reporter, exports, the two macadamia product codes and the returned named-partner rows. It does not claim complete global coverage, independent confirmation of every entry or current-year market shares.