Mintec heard offers for dried apricots have been scarce from Turkey since frosts hit the key growing areas around Malatya in the week of 31st March. Concerns over fungal disease and the persistent earthquake aftershocks in central and southern regions of Turkey following the devastating earthquake on 6th February, are further hindering the sellers’ ability to offer product into the market.
“There is nervousness in the market; we are still trying to get information. Our suppliers stopped selling after the frost,” a European trader told Mintec in the second week of April. Another trader expanded on this further, “the market is now awaiting the end of Ramadan. Some optimism started to return after the earthquake, but it has now diminished. I am not so concerned about the frost, but the region continues to receive aftershocks. People are afraid to stay in factories which might have been damaged by the earlier earthquake.”
Turkey exported 65,791 tonnes of dried apricots between 1st August 2022 and 15th April 2023, a decrease of 4% y-o-y, according to the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EIB) data. Since the earthquake, about 14,000 tonnes of dried fruit has been shipped overseas, relatively steady on the previous campaign.
