According to EastFruit analysts, a sharp surge in demand for Turkish mandarins was noted in the past week, which led to an increase in transportation fees by logistics companies. Another bad news for buyers of mandarins was rainy weather in the Mersin region, which led to delays in harvesting and shipping of mandarins and contributed to rising prices for these fruits.
According to international fruit and vegetable trade expert Fedir Rybalko, Turkish growers are currently selling tangerines for $0.30-0.35 US dollars per kg, and consolidators offer this product after sorting and packing for export for an average price of 55 US cents per kg. However, a further increase in prices for these fruits cannot be ruled out.
Since Turkey is the world’s largest exporter of mandarins, this situation impacted the prices in the region. In Eastern European countries, prices for fresh mandarins have increased quite significantly in recent weeks. Most of the increase was noted in Ukraine where wholesale prices rose by 30%. In Moldova, mandarin prices have increased by 11% over the past two weeks.
For Turkey, the largest markets for tangerine are Russia, Iraq, and Ukraine. At the same time, supplies of Turkish mandarin to EU countries are quite limited, with the largest volumes coming to Romania and Poland.
At the same time, prices for tangerines in Central Asia have an opposite trend and are significantly lower than in Eastern Europe. The fact is that in this market there is an active expansion of Pakistan, which offers products at a significantly lower price. This allows Pakistan to push its key competitors: China and Turkey, out of the Central Asian market.
For more information: east-fruit.com