Turkey threatens the Extremaduran fruit market

The invasion of Ukraine has led to various positions regarding the sanctions imposed on Russia. Turkey’s has been not to meddle. However, given the fall of the ruble, various economic sectors in the Turkish country must sell their products to continue to be profitable. One of them is fruit, which has already begun to look to Europe so as not to be left out of the market.

This, to the Extremaduran fruit, does not suit him. In 2014, the Russian Federation imposed a veto on Spanish fruit and vegetables -which has been maintained to date- after the sanctions imposed by the European Union on the country for the annexation of Crimea. Therefore, Russia had to look for other providers. He found them in Egypt and, above all, in Turkey, which has increased its investment in this product since then and which has been very important for fruit production, beyond relations with the Federation.

Now, with the huge drop in the ruble after the invasion of Ukraine, it is difficult for Turkey to access these already devalued markets. Hence, its objective is to look towards the European market.

“We are very concerned because it is a country that is our direct competitor. In addition, because he is from outside the EU, he does not play by the same rules as us”, explains Miguel Ángel Gómez, managing director of Afruex. For him, it is “virtually impossible” to compete against Turkey.

«We are increasingly limited in production by licenses, fewer phytosanitary products to choose from, more expensive inputs -which have risen 60% since 2020-… The Turkish sector does not have these limitations and also has production costs much lower than ours – around 50% less, especially in phytosanitary products. We would compete with many differences and even more so with the complicated situation we have », he assures.

According to him, the fruit sector in Extremadura is doing well in terms of volume. «You have to see how the Jerte frosts have affected, although we believe not much. At the agronomic level of production we are doing very well, but we have to see how the markets respond », he indicates, before emphasizing that there is a lot of « uncertainty ».

“Total uncertainty, because it is impossible to know how everything is going to go,” he reiterates. In fact, its extra-community exports to South Africa, Asia, Central and South America are in danger due to container management and the high prices they have. In fact, the way transport is, they will have less access to markets, as well as problems with European demand.

In any case, it is too early to say how the campaign will go. Within a month the first fruits will come and the conflict may end. Gómez believes that what is needed is that, at specific moments of the campaign, “we can have merchandise withdrawn so that supply never exceeds demand and is profitable.” And, of course, “that the war ends, that the ruble returns and that Turkey looks back there, to Russia.”