The situation surrounding the Red Sea is throwing a real curveball when it comes to the Turkish apple season, says Alper Kerim, owner of Turkish fruit exporter Demir Fresh Fruits: “The Turkish apple season is not going very well due to shipping problems. Freight rates have been increased and transit times have increased as well. Overall the situation is affecting our operation in a negative way.”
Kerim emphasizes that changing their focus to another market simply isn’t possible, as their clients in India will still need their apples. “Despite the challenges surrounding the Red Sea, we can’t deny India apple shipments. Not just that, India will require other Turkish products as well, so it is our hope that the situation in the Red Sea will improve as time goes on. However, in the unfortunate case that the difficulties remain, we will have to continue using the longer route to India, and the market will get used to it.”
Right now, India has tried mitigating the problem by importing more apples from Iran, but the Iranian stocks will deplete soon, Kerim states: “India is most likely importing a lot more apples from Iran so far, however Iran will finish their stock in about one or two months, after which India’s focus will turn to Turkey. We have started shipments to India in last two to three weeks and the shipments will continue increasing every week. I’m expecting a huge demand in March and April.”
After India flooded its markets by importing too many apples, the situation seems to be a lot more healthy right now. “The apple season started with lots of traffic, two to three months back. At that point, India imported more apples then they needed and flooded the markets in India. Now, the situation is returning to normal and imports will soon resume with a focus on Turkish Red Delicious. I’m expecting higher demand through the end of the season, but Turkish stocks will not survive too long, I don’t expect us to be able to export still in the full months of May and June. As DFF, we are planning to finish our stock in May at the latest, and then switch our focus to our cherry operations,” Kerim concludes.
For more information:
Alper Kerim
Demir Fresh Fruits
Tel: +90 532 514 2080
Email: [email protected]
www.dff.com.tr