Turkey has become a fierce competitor to Spain's horticultural export sector in non-EU markets, like Russia. Turkish exports to the Russian market have grown strongly in recent years, turning them into Russia's largest supplier for some products.
The total volume of Turkish vegetables imported by Russia has gone from 115,668 tonnes in 2004 to 492,226 tonnes in 2012, according to Fruit & Vegetable Facts, edited by Marketsurvey Russia.
By products, the volume of imported Turkish tomatoes has increased from 68,325 tonnes in 2004 to 360,648 tonnes in 2012; for cucumbers, 9,157 to 54,732 tonnes; for peppers, from 1,349 tonnes in 2004 to 9,900 tonnes in 2012, while aubergine imports have grown from 311 to 2,956 tonnes.
Spanish fruit and vegetable exports to Russia have also increased significantly in recent years, although to a lower extent. Spanish shipments in 2012 totalled 255,255 tonnes, turning Russia into the main non-EU destination for the Spanish sector. Nevertheless, according to data compiled by Eurostat up to the month of November, trends changed in 2013, with Spanish exports to Russia falling by around 9% compared to 2012.
This drop was mostly caused by Turkey's competition. As reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Turkey is the world's sixth largest fruit and vegetable producer, with 45.9 million tonnes (26.09 million tonnes of vegetables and 19.8 million tonnes of fruit).
In terms of export volumes, Turkey is the world's 11th largest exporter, with 2.95 million tonnes, of which 2 million correspond to fruit and 947,740 tonnes to vegetables.