Record in dried apricot exports from Malatya: 50 thousand tons in 6 months!

Malatya Commodity Exchange President Ramazan Özcan, in a statement to journalists at the exchange building, announced that the dried apricot export season began on August 1, 2024, and that they are targeting 100 thousand tons of dried apricot exports this year.

Stating that the export data for the first 6 months of the season is in line with expectations, Özcan said, "Our exports for the first 6 months reached approximately 50 thousand tons. This is a significant improvement compared to previous years. Our exports between August 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025, reached 50 thousand tons. We have a 6-month period ahead of us to reach our target, and we plan to export 100 thousand tons during this period."

Reminding that the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes on February 6, 2023, caused great damage to the city, Özcan emphasized that the income generated from apricot exports is of great importance for Malatya's economic situation.

7 THOUSAND 506 TONS OF EXPORTS IN JANUARY!

Stating that they exported 7 thousand 506 tons of dried apricots in the first month of the new year and generated 36 million 27 thousand dollars in revenue in return, Özcan continued as follows:

"Compared to January of last year, we achieved a significant increase in both quantity and revenue. Apricots are making great progress toward becoming the most trouble-free and important product in Turkey's dried fruit exports. Although there are no problems in dried apricot exports, the market is narrowing; there is a serious increase in production, especially in Central Asia. We will continue on our path more carefully and decisively. We will protect the value of Malatya apricots in the world market with quality production. However, I would like to emphasize that producers need to be supported in many areas against rising costs in agricultural products in terms of price and competition. As costs increase and inflation remains high, considering that the exchange rate is stable, the producer is facing serious costs. In apricot kernel exports, we generated 1 million 537 thousand dollars in revenue by selling 643 tons in January."

"The highest volume of dried apricot exports went to the USA, while the highest volume of apricot kernel exports went to Italy"

Özcan stated that the largest market for dried apricot exports is the USA and for apricot kernel exports is Italy, adding, "To date, we have exported 8 thousand 175 tons of dried apricots to the USA."