According to EastFruit analysts, another collapse in the Turkish national currency has led to significant consequences for the fruit and vegetable business. Since the beginning of 2024, the US dollar to Turkish lira exchange rate has increased by 12%, and over the year – by 71%.
According to international fruit and vegetable business expert Fedir Rybalko, thanks to the devaluation, Turkey received a temporary advantage in the export of apples, except for the Golden Delicious variety, as well as in the exports of lemon and grapefruit. “Also, the devaluation of the Turkish lira stimulates the production of local bananas,” says Fedir Rybalko.
Against the backdrop of Iran’s self-exclusion from the global apple market, this will allow Turkey to more successfully export these fruits to the Indian market, where these two countries compete. Also, according to our estimates, this will allow Turkey to export greenhouse tomatoes more competitively to the Ukrainian market.
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It should be noted that Turkey continues to boost local production of bananas and other types of fruits and vegetables. According to EastFruit, Turkey is among the top-8 largest global exporters of fruits and vegetables. Average annual increase in exports of vegetables and fruits from Turkey exceeds 5% or US $320 million.
Russia remains the largest buyer of Turkish vegetables and fruits, but its share in exports is declining, while shipments to Germany, Iraq, Romania and a number of other countries of the European Union and the Middle East are growing at a very high rate.
Türkiye is also rapidly reducing banana imports. Over the past three years, the volume of banana imports has decreased by more than 4 times.
