Russian media reported last week a ban on imports of Turkish mandarins to Russia. On October 28, EastFruit experts analyzed how a ban on mandarin imports could affect fruit consumption and prices in the country. However, we noted that the Rospotrebnadzor website was not clear enough, and there were no clarifications from the official bodies of the Russian Federation. Russian importers were also not sure whether the ban concerned all Turkish mandarins, or supplies of one company, but the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture was sure that it was only mandarins from the company FIKRET DEGIRMENCI SARARTMA PAKETLEME IHRACAT ITHALAT VEPAZARLAMA LIMITED SIRHKETI IPEK-1 SOK.NO 21 AKDENIZ / MERSIN / TURKEY.
The vagueness of the wording made the market participants nervous, and the competitors of Turkey, such as Pakistan, Iran and Georgia, sharply increased their marketing activity on the EF_Trade_Platform. However, Russian fruit importers informed EastFruit about the trouble-free customs clearance of Turkish mandarin batches arriving in the country.
Finally, the Rosselkhoznadzor posted a resolution on October 29, 2021 confirming the assumptions of market participants that the ban would not affect all mandarins of Turkish origin. As of today, we confirm that there are no problems with the import of Turkish mandarins to the Russian Federation. At the same time, Rosselkhoznadzor ordered Rospotrebnadzor to promptly report all facts of safety violations of Turkish mandarins.
Despite some market jitters, prices for mandarin in the Russian domestic market decreased by 7% last week. Mandarins have already fallen in price by 27% over three weeks, although they remain more expensive than last year by almost 40%. This is also the highest price level for the most popular citrus fruit in Russia in recent years.
As a rule, prices for citrus fruits in Russia stabilize from November 1st . At the same time, market participants do not expect mandarin prices in the Russian Federation to decrease to the level of previous years. A slight decline is still possible, but prices are likely to establish at + 20-25% comparing to last year, unless there are new bans on supplies.
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