Export mostly to Russia and neighbouring countries
Turkey is a superpower when it comes to the production of fruit and vegetables, and they have a spot in the global top five. Turkey also plays a part as an export country. With an export of 3.3 million tonnes of fresh fruit and more than one million tonnes of fresh vegetables, Turkey is just in the top ten of export countries.
The export is firstly focused on Russia and countries in the Middle East. In recent years, a lot of Turkish fruit and vegetables have been sent to Iraq as well. About a fifth of the Turkish export of fresh fruit and vegetables is focused on the EU. The most important EU countries for Turkish export are Romania, Germany and Bulgaria.
Mostly more fruit
In recent years, more fruit in particular was exported. The partial boycott of Turkish products by Russia in 2016 didn’t manage to turn that trend. The export to Russia showed a recovery in recent years, but is not yet back at the level of before the ban. The route via Belarus also offered an opportunity for the Turkish products to lessen the pain.
Turkey has seen a chance to sell more and more fresh fruit and vegetables to a lot of countries. This mostly concerns sales to countries in their own region. The export to destinations further away, such as South and East Asia, is very modest in size. Turkey is mostly a citrus exporter. Tangerines and lemons are the most important products, followed by tomatoes and oranges.
Pomegranate the biggest grower
The Turkish production of both fresh fruit and fresh vegetables is steadily growing. That of fresh vegetables increased from nearly 19 million tonnes in 2010 to about 25 million tonnes now. In that same period, the production of fresh fruit increased from 17 to just over 24 million tonnes.
Major products for the fresh market are tomatoes (8.8 million tonnes), onions (2.1), cucumbers (1.8), peppers (0.95), and bell peppers (0.55). The important Turkish fruit products are watermelons (4.0 million tonnes), apples (3.0), table grapes (2.1), oranges (2.0), melons (1.8), tangerines (1.5) and lemons (1.0 million tonnes). The biggest grower in the fruit range is pomegranate; from 60,000 tonnes in 2010 to 500,000 tonnes now. The production of strawberries, apricots, peaches and cherries is also growing considerably. The production of kiwi fruit is rapidly increasing as well, but with 60,000 tonnes it’s still quite modest in size.
The increase of the protected production is most noticeable in the production of fresh vegetables. Since 2010, it increased from over 3 to nearly 7 million tonnes. The protected production of tomatoes in particular increased, from 1.4 to nearly 4 million tonnes.
Export peak at the end of the year
The peak of the Turkish foreign trade in fresh fruit and vegetables is in the final months of the year. The export of tangerines reaches an absolute peak in November and December, volumes in both months amount to more than 200,000 tonnes. The peak of other major citrus export products – lemons, oranges and grapefruit – is around that same period. The export of pomegranates is also considerable at that time.
Turkish tomatoes are exported year-round. The export is only smaller in the middle of summer. The Greek grape season starts in July and lasts until December. Peaches and nectarines are on the market from late April until September. The months of May and June are by far the most important months for the export of cherries, apricots and watermelons.
Sales to Russia back on level again in past year, but not for tomatoes
After the Russian market closed down for fresh fruit and vegetables from EU countries in particular in August 2014, a boycott for a large number of Turkish fruit and vegetable products followed in 2016. This boycott was as good as lifted in 2017, except for Turkish tomatoes. In recent years, access was expanded, but in 2018, only 30,000 tonnes of Turkish tomatoes were sent to Russia, compared to 350,000 tonnes in 2014.
This boycott led to the Turkish export of fresh produce being cut by more than half in 2016. Turkish tangerines and lemons were allowed into Russia. For that matter, the ban on Turkish products was partly by-passed by using the route via Belarus. Because of the restrictions for the import of Turkish tomatoes, the export is still not back at the level of before the boycott. Export of all other products combined, however, reached record sizes in 2018. Of most other products, more than ever could be supplied to Russia in 2018. This was mostly the case for peaches, nectarines and apples. Exceptions to the tomatoes are grapes and apricots.
Sales in Gulf states stagnating
Russia and other former Soviet republics (excluding the Baltic states) are the most important as a group. Last year, this mostly concerned Ukraine (300,000 tonnes), Georgia (126,000 tonnes) and Belarus (108,000 tonnes) in addition to Russia (1.1 million tonnes).
Export to countries in the Middle East is showing the biggest increase. According to the Turkish statistics agency, this would mostly concern Iraq. The export to Gulf states with great purchasing power is growing, but not as much as in the past. Saudi Arabia is the most important Gulf state for Turkey, with an export of approximately 235,000 tonnes in recent years. Comparatively, a lot of tomatoes are sent to that country. In recent years, about 50,000 tonnes were sent to the United Arab Emirates each year, and export to Qatar is growing, last year by 30,000 tonnes.
Hardly any export to far destinations
While other countries are trying to gain ground in countries in South and East Asia, Turkey hardly exports fresh fruit and vegetables to this region. India is the most important country in that region. Last year, 12,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables was sent to this country from Turkey. This mostly concerns apples. Respectively 4,500 and 1,000 tonnes was sent to Hong Kong and China, mostly figs.
Twenty per cent of export to EU countries
The export of Turkish product to the EU last year was the biggest export of recent years, but seen over a longer period, sales to the EU constantly fluctuated between 700,000 and 850,000 tonnes. According to the Turkish statistics agency, it was 846,000 tonnes in 2018. That was almost 30 per cent more than in 2017. According to the Turkish statistics agency, Romania was by far the most important destination with more than 200,000 tonnes, followed by Germany and Bulgaria, both with 140,000 tonnes. According to this source, more than 50,000 tonnes was exported to the Netherlands.
Lemons, tomatoes, grapefruit and bell peppers are mostly sent to the EU. For the export to the Netherlands, it concerned 1,400 tonnes of grapefruit, 8,200 tonnes of tomatoes, 5,900 tonnes of tomatoes, 5,700 tonnes of bell peppers, 4,700 tonnes of tangerine and 3,800 tonnes of pomegranate in the past year.
For more information:
Jan Kees Boon
Fruit and Vegetable Facts
www.fruitandvegetablefacts.com
fruitvegfacts@gmail.com