High nutritional valued super foods like seedless raisins, dried apricots and dried figs, which Turkey is the world leader in production and export; approach $1 billion towards the end of the season. The export of seedless raisins, started the 2020/21 season on September 1, 2020, reached 93 countries in 8 months and 332 million dollars in total. In dried apricots, while entering the last quarter in the 9-month period between August 1, 2020 and May 29, 2021, a total of 258 million dollars of foreign currency income was obtained 13.7% of increase for a total of 78 thousand tons of dried apricots.
Turkey exported a total of 57 thousand 143 tons of dried figs in the period from September 30, 2020 to May 29, 2021, bringing its exports to a total of 207 million dollars with an increase of 2 percent. All dried apricots, exported for 2 thousand 779 dollars in the 2019/20 season, were sold for 3 thousand 470 dollars in 114 countries in the 2020/21 period. The average export price of all dried figs sent to 104 countries in the 2020/21 season increased from 4 thousand 52 dollars to 4 thousand 261 dollars.
Turkey, a key supplier of healthy food
Ege Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association President Birol Celep said that the dried figs, dried apricots and raisins, making up the lion’s share of 1.4 billion dollars of dried fruit exports in 2020 with 1 billion dollars, have reached 798 million dollars after two-thirds of the season.
The USA ranks number one in dried apricots, Germany ranks number one in dried figs
Stating that the exports of dried apricots increased by 13.7% and reached 258 million dollars, Celep said “We experienced increases of 27% in our traditional markets to the USA and 40% to European countries. Our exports rose 49 percent to the Netherlands, 41 percent to Italy, and 43 percent to Poland. The UK is 29 percent, Egypt 19 percent, UAE 16 percent, and Brazil 8 percent. We aim to reach 300 million dollars in dried apricot exports. In dried fig exports, Germany keeps ranking number one in the first place with an increase of 4 percent and 30 million dollars. Our exports to the Netherlands, Finland and Austria were increased by 40 percent. We increased our dried fig exports to the USA by 8 percent and reached 28 million dollars. Egypt is 32 percent; the United Kingdom is where we showed a 25 percent increase. We will reach 250 million dollars in dried figs, which was 207 million dollars by the current period, and reach 1 billion dollars in the export of seedless raisins, dried apricots and dried figs”