Turkey is suspending tomato exports until mid-April and the horticulture business news resource EastFruit suggests this might cause a price jump in countries that depend on Turkish imports, including Moldova.

“Due to the abnormal recent rise in the price of tomatoes in Turkey and the terrible consequences of the earthquake, which directly affected 11 provinces, it became necessary to take measures to ensure food security and stabilize prices”, the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said in a statement.

As EastFruit analysts believe, the decision by the Turkish government will have a serious impact on the greenhouse tomato market in countries that depend on imports from Turkey already next week. Primarily, these are Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Romania, and several other countries, because it is Turkey that usually supplies the most greenhouse tomatoes to these markets in March.