Dried Apricots: Firm EU Prices Amid Tighter Turkish Supply and Efficiency Push

Prices for dried apricots remain firm to mildly higher in Europe as the market digests a structurally tighter Turkish supply situation while producers intensify efforts to improve crop protection efficiency. A gradual uptick across main sizes and cube cuts signals steady demand facing constrained origin availability. The apricot sector is reacting not only to weather-related supply shocks, but also to rising input costs and stricter environmental rules. Growers and processors are increasingly relying on advanced crop protection surfactants to stabilise yields and fruit quality under challenging field conditions. These technologies are designed to use less active ingredient while maintaining or improving disease and pest control, supporting both cost management and sustainability goals in key origins such as Turkey’s Malatya region. In this context, European buyers face a market where physical supply risks remain elevated, but agronomic efficiency gains could gradually moderate volatility over the medium term.

Prices

European FCA prices in Dordrecht for Turkish conventional dried apricots continued to firm into late July 2026. Size No. 8 rose from EUR 5.82/kg on 10 July to EUR 5.95/kg on 31 July, while Size No. 1 moved from EUR 6.75/kg to EUR 6.95/kg over the same period. Cubes 8–10 mm increased from EUR 3.55/kg to EUR 3.75/kg, reflecting consistent ingredient demand.

FOB Malatya and Ankara offers for both sulphured and unsulphured fruit have remained broadly stable through July, in a high but sideways range of roughly EUR 7.3–8.65/kg for conventional whole fruit and about EUR 9.3–10.35/kg for organic grades. This suggests exporters are reluctant to discount given limited stocks after the 2025 frost-reduced crop and only partial recovery expected from alternative origins.

Supply & Demand

Turkey remains the dominant driver of the dried apricot balance, with Malatya and neighbouring provinces providing the bulk of global export volumes. Recent seasons have underscored the sector’s vulnerability to late frosts and heat extremes, which have sharply reduced output and carry-over stocks. International industry data for 2025/26 point to a significant drop in Turkish production and shipments, with total world dried apricot supply falling from roughly 175,000 tonnes in 2024/25 to around 138,000 tonnes in 2025/26 as carry-in stocks are drawn down.

Central Asian origins such as Uzbekistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan are expanding production and exports, but their combined incremental supply cannot fully offset the Turkish shortfall. At the same time, high prices through late 2025 and early 2026 encouraged some substitution and delistings in retail and foodservice, tempering demand growth. Since early 2026, reports indicate weaker buying interest and some price correction from extreme peaks, but current EU wholesale levels still reflect a structurally tight global balance.

Fundamentals & Role of Crop Protection

The apricot sector is operating under rising production costs, including labour, energy and plant protection inputs. In response, growers and crop protection suppliers are turning to advanced surfactant technologies within pesticide formulations to improve spray efficiency. Unlike traditional wetting agents, these surfactants are engineered to enhance droplet spreading, penetration and retention on apricot leaves and fruit surfaces, improving the biological effectiveness of fungicides and insecticides even under hot, dry or otherwise suboptimal field conditions.

Multifunctional surfactants that combine coverage enhancement, penetration aid and formulation compatibility are becoming especially valuable. For apricots, where disease and pest pressure can be intense around flowering and fruit set, such products allow equal or better control with lower active ingredient doses. This is increasingly important in orchards supplying sulphur-free and organic lines, where regulatory pressure and retailer sustainability targets demand reduced chemical loads without compromising yield or quality.

The rapid spread of precision agriculture and variable-rate spraying in orchards further supports adoption. In hilly Malatya terrain and other apricot regions, drones and digitally managed sprayers depend on formulations that maintain consistent droplet behaviour across changing microclimates. Advanced surfactants help minimise runoff and evaporation losses, improving deposition and treatment uniformity. Over time, this should help stabilise yields and fruit calibre, partially mitigating weather-related volatility and supporting more predictable supply for dryers and exporters.

Weather & Agronomic Outlook

With the Turkish crop highly concentrated in continental interiors, the key weather risks heading into the next cycle remain late frosts, heatwaves and erratic rainfall. While short-term forecasts for the Malatya region are seasonally warm and generally dry, the broader scientific consensus points to increasing frequency of extreme events across the Mediterranean, raising the probability of future yield shocks for tree crops such as apricots.

Given this backdrop, orchard strategies that combine improved varietal selection with robust crop protection and optimised spray technology are likely to gain importance. Surfactant-enhanced programmes that maintain efficacy under variable temperature and humidity conditions can reduce the need for repeat applications and help protect tree health, supporting long-term productivity and fruit quality despite climate-related stress.

Trading Outlook

• Short term (next 1–3 weeks): EU FCA prices for Turkish conventional dried apricots are expected to remain firm to slightly higher, with limited downside given tight origin stocks and steady ingredient demand.
• Buyers: Food manufacturers and packers with Q4 2026 needs should consider layering in coverage on key sizes while nearby offers from the Netherlands and Poland remain available, focusing on sulphured product where supply is relatively deeper.
• Sellers: Exporters and EU distributors can defend current price levels but should remain flexible on mix (sizes, sulphured vs unsulphured) as some demand segments remain price sensitive after the 2025–early 2026 spike.
• Risk management: Monitor Turkish orchard conditions closely into the critical spring frost window and track adoption of higher-efficiency crop protection programmes, which could progressively reduce yield risk and moderate future price volatility.

3-day directional outlook (EUR-based): For major EU hubs (NL FCA, PL FCA), dried apricot prices are likely to trade sideways to modestly firmer over the next three days, with no immediate signals of significant softening in Turkish FOB offers or logistics costs.