Turkey’s dried sultana raisins harvest is almost finished. Some rainfalls have caused damage but not significantly. TMO had announced 13–TL/kg for type nr.9 as the purchase price for the new crop, which was 12.50 TL/kg last Season.
The announced purchase prices caused negative reactions of the farmers. Farmers state that this year’s prices did not meet their expectations which were around 16 TL for Type nr. 9. Market players said that private businesses buy the sultana raisins at a lower price of 1 to 1.5 TL than TMO. Farmers prefer to sell their products to TMO, which has started with buying as of yesterday. The crop size remains unannounced.
Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association President Birol Celeb said that Turkey alone accounts for 36 per cent of the world’s exports of seedless raisins and added that they are concerned that Turkey, which is a playmaker country in world markets, may experience a loss of market and position due to uncertainties.
He shared the information that Turkey’s seedless raisin exports decreased from 248.000 mt to 226.000mt, which is a decrease of 9 % on the amount in the 2020-21 season, and from 510 million USD to 434 million USD, which is a loss of 15 per cent on amount basis, Celeb added: “The purchase of sultana raisins from the market by TMO has made a significant contribution to our producers and exports in terms of selling our product at the value it deserves in the world markets and increasing our exports sustainably. However, in the upcoming period, the purchase and price policy must be adopted before the start of the Season not to deepen the market loss of our country, protect our existing markets, and not adversely affect our country’s exports. Announcing it earlier will help the sector see the way ahead and prevent the sector from being damaged due to the purchases and sales that can be made in advance due to the dynamics of the sector. In this direction, with the planting of new vineyards and the increase in the existing vineyard areas, more growth awaits us in the coming period. Policies to be determined are of great importance to manage the harvest and stocks sustainably and to reach the export target of 270.000mt”.
As stated earlier, the berries are bigger, fleshier, and of better quality this Season. Some exporters have started offering conventional sultana raisins 1700 Usd/mt while others maintain 1800 Usd/mt on a FOB basis. Organic Sultana Raisins type nr 9 are still offered between 2600-2700 USD/mt on a FOB Izmir basis. Sea Freight prices to main European ports are at 60 Usd/mt levels currently.
The instability of the TL continues and has again appreciated and reached for Usd/TL rate is at 8.43TL ( 8.32 last week) and Euro/TL rate at 9.96 TL levels ( 9.89 last week).
Until 11 Sept 2021 were 9.385 mt, which was 9.005 mt the previous year during the same period. Turkey exported 5731 mt of sultana raisins last week, which was 5586 mt during the previous season’s same week.
| Sultana Raisins, Turkey, crop 2021 | |
| Type | USD/kg |
| Type 8, Std. Grade A | 1,65 |
| Type 9, Std. Grade A | 1,70 – 1,80 |
| Type 10, Std.Grade A | 2.15 |
| Type nr .9 Organic, Std. Grade A | 2,65 |
| FOB Izmir | |
| Seedless dried raisins exports on the mt basis | ||
| Season | 2021/22 | 2020/21 |
| Amount | 9.385 | 9.005 |
| From the beginning of the season | ||
Source: Trade