Turkish Apricot Update 06/01/2022

Happy New Year

Very Strong December Shipments

Exports in December were 8,924 tons compared to 8,545 tons last year an increase of 4.5%

Year to date exports are 46,349 tons compared to 43,312 tons last year, an increase of 7%

There is no sign of exports slowing despite the higher prices this year, in fact they accelerated, and we expect they will remain strong until the supply runs out some way short of 2022 harvest.

We believe the remaining balance is in fact committed, though if sellers defer loss making contracts into 2022 crop as many did last year, there may be occasional availability.

The Lira seems to have settled for the time being at around 13.7 to the $.

The first week of 2022 saw a wave of price increases in Turkey, carton prices are up nearly 300% on last year, electricity increased 125%, labour rates increased 50%. Despite the weaker Lira these increases have added a net $200 per ton to bulk costs. There is no sign of freight rates easing, in fact the trend seems to be increasing further.

There have been a few small lots of size 4 and large traded this week in Malatya. Nothing smaller than a 4 remains.