Working as an agent, broker and consultant at international markets targeting to build a strong link between producers and buyers, DORAINTRADE analyses Turkish dried apricot harvest 2015 season.
Doraintrade has been tracing the market on behalf of producers and buyers in order to give feedback and market reports from the source regularly. Ms. Banu Er of Doraintrade supplied the following information about the harvest of Turkish Dried Apricots. “By the second week of July/15 New crop Turkish Apricots harvest started in a big range of production area in Malatya. As we previously informed, authorities declared 84.500 mtons of Dried Apricots estimated to produce this season 2015. We have individually presented many of the growing areas in past weeks to see the situation of new crop and what growers as well as exporters think about the new crop. This year, winter was averagely cold and snowy in Malatya and there has been some frost occurred in the flower time of the trees in late April that we can see now not too severe to damage the crop in big volumes. However, we can say that some growing areas were affected by the frost on last week of April and first weeks of May/15 resulted there is obviously short yield in some growing areas.
Generally if we think of Malatya city as a center, while Northeast side has weaker crop, west and Southeast did have literally satisfying yield this season. However, when we look at the yearly volumes of each production area, we can see that satisfying yield areas this year are actually smaller areas in supply. “As we all know, there has been very severe damage last year 2014 crop almost whole growing areas that has also more affects to this year in some red spotted areas as a result of Apricot trees were weak when starting to the season. “Estimated 85-90,000 tons of dried apricots is not a huge crop but this will bring us various apricots berry sizes and more quantities will be available from big sizes. Trees can hold the fruits and supply enough sugar brix level before the harvest. Tress at higher altitude needs more time up to 3 weeks to harvest and first harvested land areas are already starting to drying season, Naturals will be dried, pitted and stored af terwards while the So2 apricots will be in sulphur rooms. Exporters will start collecting first deliveries from the growers soon, depends on their early shipment requirements. Matter on this point, is historically So2 apricots dried and sulphur processed in the growing areas means to apricot berries contain around 4000ppm.
So2 When the apricot waits in the warehouses it naturally loses sulphur with air, So2 level goes down. EU and certain countries allow So2 limit at max 2000ppm. Thus, EU early enquiries may face of lack of low So2 apricots at the beginning of the crop. In this case some Exporters that have obviously prompt shipment of low So2 apricots needs to do order- made apricots to the growers with purchasing contracts that the growers do low sulphur treatment for those parties. “There is estimated 5-10.000 carry over from the last crop those possibly will be exported quickly relating already decreased So2 and firmed prices of old crop. “Estimation of first shipments of new crop may start on the second half of August. We estimate raw material prices will be much clear in coming days, to calculate export prices. And very shortly, we will start to offer new crop prices for conventional, natural and for organic dried apricots.”
