ANKARA: Turkish citrus fruit exports grew by 14 percent between September 2016 and March 2017, as reported by the head of the Turkish National Citrus Council, Kemal Kaçmaz, who told the news agency Anatolia that the country’s citrus shipments are an important part of the country’s fruit and vegetable exports. Kaçmaz pointed out that citrus exporters had found alternative markets against the background of the crisis with Russia in late 2015, but that their exports have increased significantly with the abolition of the Russian government ban on the import of citrus fruits, following the improvement of relations between the two countries.
Kaçmaz said that shipments recorded a 14 percent growth between September and March compared to the same period last year, while their value increased by 7 percent. He added that Turkey’s citrus exports in the 2016-2017 season amounted to 577,979 tonnes, while in the previous season they had reached 378,636 tonnes. Kaçmaz said that the value of citrus exports for the current season amounted to 795,971,359 US dollars.
