Buraidah date market records SR9 million deals

The first five days of seasonal date market in Buraidah recorded deals worth more than SR9 million.
Khaled Al-Naqeedan, CEO of Buraidah Date Festival, said the market would reach its peak at the end of August.
“The festival is still in its first days,” he said.
Every day more than 950 vehicles loaded with different types of dates enter the market. The dates come from Qassim Province and neighboring governorates famous for the crop.
Al-Naqeedan expects this season to be the longest because of the low temperatures prevailing in the area.
“Qassim Province is abundant with date farms where temperatures are significantly low,” he said.
Ibrahim Al-Ghaith, a mediator, said that the market is making pace on a daily basis.
“This is normal considering the number of buyers present,” he said.
The mediator is a key role player between buyers and sellers in the daily sales operations.
“As Eid Al-Fitr coincided with the early days of the market and festival, no buyers could be seen in the marketplace,” said Al-Ghaith. “More quantities of date supplies led also to low prices of the crop before it took an upward trend again, with buyers hoarding and supplies disappearing day after day.”
Another mediator, Nasser Al-Ammar, said that Al-Sukari dates recorded the highest price of all dates, SR450 per 3 kg pack, also the highest price in this season.
Al-Ammar expects prices of Al-Sukari dates to record a significant rise, breaking the records of prices prevailed in past festivals.
Dates traders face the burden of storage for the next Ramadan, still more than 11 months away. The costs of storage and cooling are added to the price. This is why prices record an upward trend that gradually begins to decline with the shrinking time period between the date season and the holy month.