Bursa, a city in northwestern Turkey, is the center for peach production in Turkey and both the production numbers and the prices were satisfactory for growers this season. The prices are around 0.75 -1 USD per kg range at the growers and the growers hope that the prices will continue to remain at this level.
Bursa has been in heavy competition with Izmir and Aydin to become the leading producer of peaches and last year the growers in Bursa grew around 180,000 tons of peaches. This figure is expected to be around 200,000 tons this year.
The export market is the main determining factor of the prices in local market as well and almost 65 % of the production is exported last year. This year the percentage of exports are estimated to increase by 75 %, which is around 150,000 tons. The growers directly export to Russia and indirectly to many other European countries through middlemen.
The only big problem is in small peaches which are used in juice production. The purchase price for these peaches is around 0.08 USD per kg which is displeasing the growers.
Source: Yeni Akit