Last week, the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) sold 12,500 tonnes of its 2021/22 sultana stock through the Izmir Commodity exchange, at prices of TRY 22.50/kg for type 7 sultanas and TRY 23.00/kg for type 8 sultanas. The TMO still holds around 20,000 tonnes of sultanas from the 2021/22 harvest and an estimated 93,000 tonnes of the 2022/23 harvest.
Supply in Turkey is abundant this year after production reached an estimated 320,000 tonnes, according to the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EIB), up 10% year-on-year (y-o-y). Mintec continues to hear some opinions that the output could be as high as 340,000 tonnes, owing to less product being sold into the fresh market. Nonetheless, the TMO’s procurement activities have been squeezing availability.
Market sources in Europe continue to report limited demand. “We have sold very little sultanas this year. There is very little demand. The market is completely covered with the new season product,” a European broker said. “Demand is slow, there is not much movement in the market”, a Dutch trader added.
Despite the weak demand, Turkey has managed to export 113,000 tonnes of dried grapes since the start of the season, in September 2022, an increase of 1% on the previous campaign. Nonetheless, in the four-week period to 28th January, exports slowed by 4% y-o-y to 16,315 tonnes, according to data from the EIB.
The Mintec Benchmark Prices for Turkish sultanas (type 9, FOB Turkey) have been steady in the past four weeks, last assessed on 1st February at USD 1,600/MT.
