Türkiye's citrus exports last year totalled 904 million 18 thousand dollars.

According to the information compiled by the correspondent from the data of the Mediterranean Exporters' Associations (AKİB), 1 million 940 thousand tonnes of citrus fruits were exported from Türkiye in 2022.

With this export in citrus, a foreign currency inflow of 904 million 18 thousand dollars was provided to the country.

The most exported citrus products last year were mandarin, lemon, orange and grapefruit, respectively.

Russia ranked first in the distribution of exports by country. Almost half of the exports were made to Russia, where 429, 84, 68, 46 and 42 million dollars worth of products were sent to Ukraine, Iraq, Poland and Romania, respectively.

Kemal Kaçmaz, Vice President of the National Citrus Council, told AA correspondent that citrus has an important share in fresh fruit and vegetable exports.

Stating that the problems experienced on a global scale last year were reflected in exports, Kaçmaz said, "A foreign currency inflow of 904 million dollars was provided in citrus in 2022. There is a slight decrease compared to the previous year. There are reasons for this. Purchasing power decreased due to the pandemic and economic difficulties in the buyer countries. In addition, the Russia-Ukraine war caused a decline. Despite these, we maintain the figures of the previous period."

"We will exceed our export target of $ 1 billion in the new year"

Kaçmaz noted that citrus exporters will continue to contribute to the country's economy and that they will work with all their strength to avoid being affected by other negativities in the world.

Stating that they are in search of new markets for exports and that they believe that the developments in the sector will continue to increase in the coming years, Kaçmaz said, "We believe that we will close the decline experienced in 2023, albeit slightly. We will exceed our export target of 1 billion dollars in the new year. Despite so many economic problems in the world, we have achieved a good figure despite the problems in transport and transport."

Kaçmaz emphasised that they aim to increase exports to Far East countries and believe that they will reach their expectations in 2023.

"Mersin ranks first in lemon production"

Mersin Director of Agriculture and Forestry Arif Abalı stated that the city stands out with many agricultural products.

Stating that citrus exports in the city make a significant contribution to the national economy, Abalı said, "The majority of our fresh fruit and vegetable exports are citrus fruits. Only Mersin made 36 percent of Türkiye's exports with 695 thousand tonnes. We rank first in lemon production among citrus products."

 

Source: Anadolu Ajansı