The Turkish citrus season is currently taking on a slow pace due to adverse weather effects and the current market trends. Major growing regions like Adana and Mersin were hit by heavy rainfall for three weeks straight, which led to floods, inundating fields and effectively all but ended production for the current season.“The citrus season is still running, as the weather conditions have improved in the last couple of days, but it has slowed down a lot,” says Coskun Eren of the Turkish export company Eren Tarim. According to Coskun, another major factor for the current situation for citrus has to do with market trends related to Russia.
"Russia still has a ban on trade with Europe. This means that Turkey has become the main supplier for Russia at the moment. The prices in citrus have gone up a lot cause Russia is buying a lot and also because the prices in the field have increased, we cannot compete with Spain in Europe which is something different this year. This also gives more opportunities for other growing regions."
In week 10, the price for Turkish lemons stood at €0.80 to €0.90 per kilo, FOB. Depending on what country the lemons are exported to, the delivered price increases by 15 to 20 euro cents.
The season for Turkish Valencia oranges had to deal with frost damage. Even though the season has only just begun, it’s hard to find healthy produce. Coskun added that most companies aren’t risking the export of fruit that might turn out to be of inferior quality.
Though this leaves ample opportunity for a competitor like Egypt, Coskun isn’t too worried. “European markets aren’t interested in Egyptian citrus because of reliability issues. They prefer Turkish and Spanish citrus instead.”
The Turkish lemon harvest has just finished, as has the season for grapefruit. The export of citrus will last until the end of April or the beginning of May, though the export volumes will be limited. “We need to be very careful with our quality. The fruit is now coming from cold storage, which means it is more expensive as cold storage comes with higher energy costs.”
However, even if the season has slowed down, stopping altogether isn’t an option for Eren Tarim. “When you fully stop production and export, it’s really hard to start up again. Stopping all activities means you’re kept out of the loop with current market developments. Customers end up looking for alternative sources, which means that you’ve lost those customers when you try to restart your production and trade activities,” says Coskun in conclusion.
For more information:Coskun Eren
Eren Tarim (Turkey)
Tel 0090-324-454-14-87-88
Email: coskun@erentarim.com
www.erentarim.com