Mixed picture for Turkish summer fruit exports
by Market Insider
Friday, 23 Sep. 2016
Turkey has seen a significant year-on-year increase in its summer fruit exports this season with strong gains for cherries and table grapes but declines for stonefruit.
According to figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute the country boosted its cherry exports 18% from March through July 2016 to 79.049 metric tons (mt); the world’s leading cherry grower also managed to notch a 35% increase in exports obtained the previous year.
Table grape exports saw a similar rise of 15% over the period, reaching 17.027 mt but volumes were almost a third lower than in 2014.
The other fruit which saw a significant increase this year was plums, which jumped 13% to 27.769 mt; in the previous year volumes had skyrocketed 167%.
The picture is very different for Turkish apricot exports which tumbled 34% to 35.630 mt, in contrast with last season when the year-on-year exports doubled.
Peaches and nectarines exports also fell by 7% and 1% respectively.
Across all summer fruit categories Turkey’s year-on-year export volumes were 1% lower at 195.489 mt.
In terms of destinations, shipments to Russia saw a dramatic reduction plummeting 79% over the period to 17.129 mt as the ex-Soviet country (one of Turkey's most important markets) had implemented an import ban on Jan 1 for a range of produce items following a military incident that occurred late last year.
A large proportion of summer fruit was diverted to the Iraqi market, with shipments growing 18% year-on-year to 69.188 mt; exports to Germany, Belarus and Saudi Arabia also grew significantly over the period.
Source: Freshfruitportal