Turkey is experiencing a dynamic increase in prices for export-quality apples, as local suppliers cannot satisfy all requests from potential customers. Wholesale prices for Red Delicious apples, which are actively exported to the Indian market, already reach $0.9 US dollars per kg. Prices for export quality Golden Delicious apples increased to $0.75 US dollars per kg recently.
For comparison, prices for Golden Delicious apples in Ukraine and Moldova are on average 45% lower.
Considering that in India the volume of local apple production has sharply decreased in 2023, the demand for Turkish apples there has increased significantly. Last season, Turkey exported 118 thousand tons of fresh apples to India, accounting for 30% of total Turkish exports. Almost 80 thousand tons of apples were sent to Iraq – the second largest market for apples from Turkey.
In the current season, apple shortages are observed in almost all regions of the world, primarily due to a significant reduction in apple harvest forecasts in the European Union. We wrote about this in detail in this analytical article. However, production forecasts have since been significantly reduced, intensifying already bullish mood of the markets. Accordingly, the demand for apples remains high in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Turkish traders do not want to give up the opportunity to make money from apple exports, so they are actively looking for opportunities to purchase high-quality apples in Ukraine and Moldova. By the way, last season Turkey was actively engaged in apple re-exports. In particular, the sourced more than 500 tons of apples from Ukraine in the 2022/23 season, and Ukraine was the main supplier of these fruits to Turkey. It is obvious that these apples were intended for re-export to India, because Ukraine still has not solved the problem of opening access to the Indian apple market. Therefore, Ukrainian suppliers are forced to share income from apple exports with traders from Turkey.
Last year, only 40 tons of apples entered the Turkish market from Moldova, but this season imports from Moldova may increase significantly.
Let us recall that market experts believe that the apple harvest in Ukraine in 2023 will be lower than a year earlier. At the same time, wholesale prices for apples in Ukraine are currently higher than in the previous three seasons.
But in Moldova, apple prices are slightly lower than in previous years due to difficulties with access to the Russian market.
Accordingly, both Ukraine and Moldova can be source of apples for Turkish re-exports, although participants in these markets note that they have no problems with direct exports of high quality apples at reasonable prices.
Source: east-fruit.com