Egypt has emerged as the most dynamically growing supplier of palm dates to Turkey, climbing to sixth place in the exporter rankings last season and showcasing rapid export growth, according to EastFruit. Over the past five seasons, Egyptian exporters have expanded their presence in the Turkish market 22 times, boosting export volumes from a modest 170 tons to 3,900 tons.
Turkey is the fourth largest importer of palm dates globally, following India, Morocco, and the UAE. Concurrently, date consumption in Turkey is rapidly increasing – since the 2019/20 season (July-June), total imports of dates in the country have surged by nearly 60% to 69,000 tons. The volume of palm date purchases begins to rise in autumn, peaking in winter-spring (i.e., before the holy month of Ramadan). During summer, palm date imports in Turkey are at their lowest levels.
Iran and Saudi Arabia remain the two largest suppliers of dates to Turkey. However, their market share in Turkey continues to decline. For instance, imports from Iran have remained almost unchanged over the past four seasons, fluctuating between 27,000-29,000 tons, while Saudi Arabia has only slightly increased its presence to 10,000 tons.
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Meanwhile, the primary growth in imports is driven by new supplying countries such as Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt. For example, imports of Tunisian dates to Turkey have tripled over the past five seasons to 9,000 tons, Iraq has increased its exports fivefold to 6,000 tons, and Palestine has more than doubled its supply to the Turkish market. Nevertheless, among the leading countries, Egypt exhibits the highest growth rates in palm date exports to Turkey.
It is noteworthy that the production and exports of palm dates in Egypt are growing at such a rapid pace that the country may soon achieve leading positions in the global ranking. Currently, the key importing countries of Egyptian palm dates include Morocco and Indonesia. However, given the rapid growth and diversification of Egyptian exports, the threat of oversaturation of the global palm date market in the coming years could be quite significant.
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