Harvest already started for dried apricots, dried mulberries and hazelnuts and new crop shipments will start on late August. Below you can find brief market updates for these products and we will continue to publish latest dried fruits and nuts industry news. Feel free to follow us on social media to get industry updates directly.
Important note regarding failed coup attempt
As you may already know, on the evening of July 15th, a small fraction within the Turkish Armed Forces tried to engage in a coup. After this failed coup attempt, we want to inform you that all institutions of commercial life returned to normal condition so we continue our business activities without any interruption in customs procedures, import and export operations and banking system.
As BATA FOOD, we do not expect any further risk and will continue to keep our commitments to our customers as planned.
Dried Apricots
Few weeks ago, apricots drying on the ground had severe rains which damaged apricots and it increased fermentation risk. But still, prices are weakened a little last two weeks and market is stable at the moment.
Crop size can be called as average and all sizes are available (unlike last year) but price difference between size 4 to 8 is low at the moment. We Crop size is forecasted by INC as 110,000 tons this year and total supply is expected to be 125,000 tons with 15,000 tons carry over from 2015 crop. We think current prices are at reasonable levels and there will not be a significant decrease as many of the importers are securing their needs at current market levels.
Sulphured Dried Apricots Product Page
Natural and Organic Dried Apricots Product Page
Dried White Mulberries
Mulberry harvest started in both Turkey and other producer countries Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Raw material levels for Turkey origin mulberries are higher even though crop size is normal. The problem we see about quality is Turkey origin dried mulberries have darker color this year.
Main risk for mulberries this year as we mentioned earlier; there are few suppliers washing mulberries and drying in the ovens and after that applying Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) to bleach them and lighten the color. Washed and oven dried mulberries are NOT RAW anymore and H2O2 applied mulberries are definitely NOT ORGANIC. H2O2 can not be detected in regular pesticide analysis, only laboratories who check H2O2 levels for dried figs can detect the usage. See our detailed post about H2O2 usage on mulberries.
Hazelnuts
2016 hazelnut harvest started on August 1, 2016 at Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
This week hazelnut market prices soared slightly as it’s been claimed that loss occurred even after declared crop size by government. Farmers still hold the hazelnuts of last crop in their stocks and they have no intention to sell them unless prices get close to the higher levels of 2014 crop.
As you may remember, there are different views about the 2016 hazelnut crop size. Ministry of Agriculture in Turkey declared expected in-shell hazelnut crop as 468,000 tons while INC forecasted crop as 602,000 tons excluding carry over from 2015 crop.
We can say that hazelnut market will continue upward price trend at least couple more weeks.
