Turkish raisins, Market Update, December 2022
The annual sultanas export reached to 86 835 mt as of last Saturday, the 17th of Dec.
This is almost 2% more shipments than last year, the same period.
TMO:
TMO has bought 90K mt of sultanas raw material. Their inventory also got another 33K mt of old crop sultanas, and the total blockage reached to 123K mt. This is almost 1/3 of the entire crop. There will be elections next season, and as TMO is a semi-governmental institution, they won’t stop to buy as they used to cease the purchase by the end of December. The target is the farmers’ votes. Thus, this action and strategy create a scarcity of raw material in the market unless TMO is going to re-sell the excess quantity to the market. The question is when and at what price?
The availability was reasonable in the beginning of the season, however, the excess material have been absorbed by TMO. Now, all packers are waiting for their move and action.
Raw Material Availability:
Finding good quality raw material, free from mould, within the ochre limits, clean, and full of sugar and meat is hard nowadays. If the packer is in need of good quality raw material, he pays over the value. Low-quality raw material sultanas have been collected by the alcohol, vinegar, and molasses industries.