After a drier-than-normal winter in the western part of Turkey, around the towns of Manisa and Balikesir, the key sultana growing areas northeast of Izmir received much needed precipitation in the second week of March.
Rains were scarce between December and the start of March, less than half the normal levels for winter months, creating some anxiety among the Turkish growers. The latest rains at the start of the new campaign saturated the soil, alleviating some of the farmers’ worries.
“There was some nervousness in the market because of the lack of rain. It is not an issue now, but if the drought continued, production yields could have been impacted,” a trader told Mintec.
Growing areas northeast of Izmir received on average 53mm of rain in the second week of March, more than twice the average for this time of the year.
Meanwhile, the Mintec Benchmark Prices for Turkish type 9 sultanas, FOB Izmir, were down 2% m-o-m in the four-week period to 15th March, at $1,565/MT. The market has been quiet, with very little trading at the Izmir Bourse in the past few weeks.
On the export front, sultana exports from Turkey reached 139,000 tonnes between 1st September 2022 and 11th March 2023, relatively unchanged from the same period last year.
