Turkey's cherry export industry has enjoyed a bumper campaign this year, according to a new GAIN report by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service on the country's stonefruit season.
While production has remained similar to 2009 at 600,000 tonnes, the USDA report noted that exports had increased from 52,000 tonnes to 65,000 tonnes this year.
Germany remained the top market for Turkish cherries, importing just short of 17,000 tonnes, followed by Bulgaria at 15,304 tonnes and Russia with 14,680 tonnes.
Meanwhile, Turkey's peach and nectarine production bounced back from a lower campaign in 2009 to hit a total 550,000 tonnes, up from 547,000 tonnes last year.
Fresh exports are expected to stay flat at 32,000 tonnes, with Middle Eastern countries (Iran with 6,807 tonnes, Saudi Arabia with 4,692 tonnes) and Russia (4,009 tonnes) at the top of the importer list.
