A 7% Increase Recorded in Dried Apricot Exports

Turkey's dried apricot exports, in which the country is a world leader, are halfway through the 2020-21 season. During the first six months of the 2020-21 season, Turkey earned USD 162 million in foreign currency from dried apricot exports, representing a 7% increase. Dried apricot exports in the first half of the 2019-20 season had amounted to USD 151 million 662 thousand. According to a written statement from the Aegean Exporters' Associations, in the 2020/21 dried apricot season which began on 1 August 2020, a decline was experienced in volume terms. While Turkey exported 58 thousand 604 tonnes of dried apricots in the first half of the 2019-20 season, it exported 50 thousand 35 tonnes of dried apricots in the six-month period of the 2020-21 season. Osman Öz, Chairman of the Turkey Dried Fruits and Products Exporters' Associations Sector Board, noted that the decline in dried apricot exports by volume was due to lower yields and importers' approach to working without inventory due to the pandemic. He pointed out that the average export price for dried apricots increased from USD 2,600 to USD 3,240, which led to an increase in foreign currency earnings.

Our goal is to exceed USD 300 million

Öz, noting that in the dried fruit sector, which has recently earned Turkey an average of USD 1.4 billion in foreign currency, dried apricots are the product that generates the most foreign currency for Turkey after seedless dried grapes, stated: "To further increase quality in dried apricot production, within the scope of the 'Dried Apricot Quality Improvement Project' in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Turkey Dried Fruits and Products Exporters' Associations Sector Board and the Malatya Chamber of Commerce, we purchased 8 apricot grading machines, 8 drying tunnels and 2,500 drying beds, and distributed them free of charge to each of the 8 producers designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, along with apricot grading machines, drying tunnels and beds. We believe that a similar picture will emerge in the second half of the 2020-21 season in dried apricots and that we will earn over USD 300 million in revenue from dried apricot exports this season," he said. Öz, noting that dried apricots are exported from Turkey to 104 countries, concluded: "In the first half of the 2020-21 season, the United States ranked first with USD 20 million 416 thousand in dried apricot exports. We sent USD 15.4 million worth of dried apricots to Germany, while we exported USD 14 million worth to France. These countries were followed by Brazil with USD 9.6 million in exports."