Vegetable exporters from Turkey have supplied tomatoes worth $8 million to Russia since the country decided to increase the import quota for Turkish companies, Daily Sabah reports.
Moscow last month increased the quota by 50,000 tons from 150,000 to 200,000 tons.
According to data from the Aegean Exporters’ Association (EİB) released Thursday, the Turkish exporters are expected to fill the quota in a short time, while they expect Russia to completely remove the restriction.
Turkey made $304.4 million from the exports of 535,000 tons of tomatoes in 2019. Russia, one of the top export markets, purchased 98,000 tons of Turkish tomatoes for $86 million last year.
In the period between Jan. 1 and March 17, tomato exports to Russia amounted to $30.3 million. Turkey asked for a quota increase from Russia to maintain the same intensity achieved in the first months of the year.
Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Chairman Hayrettin Ucak said Russia’s increase of the quota by 50,000 tons gave exporters some relief, pointing out that the tomato exports to Russia were also reflected in the figures.
“Last year, between March 7 and March 17, we achieved about $6 million in tomato exports. In the same period of this year, the figure increased to $8 million,” he said. “The 200,000-ton quota determined recently will be filled in a short time. We, as exporters, demand that the quota be completely abolished.”
