Buraidah date sales hit SR160m

Sales at the Buraidah date market have yielded SR160 million since the start of the date festival 20 days ago, reporting average daily sales of SR8 million.
Salih Al-Ahmed, mayor of the Qasim Region, said the Buraidah date market has become a key date collection center and is receiving 950 vehicles daily loaded with a variety of dates coming from some six million date palms from across the region.
Meanwhile, dealers predicted that daily sales will reach SR20 million during peak season, which will last for another month. “Saqi” and “khulas” dates are being sold at high prices, but the “sukkari” brand remains predominantly in demand, dealers said.
For his part, Ali Al-Faizi, a date palm farmer, said production is distinctive and that most produce is of lucrative quality and sold at high prices. Nevertheless, prices remain lower than the previous year due to increased production and over-supply.
“Everyone is looking for quality and good prices and farmers have benefited from the daily turnout at the market. Some quote prices of over SR200 for a 3-kg pack and others less than SR100 for the same type depending on size and color,” he noted.
Khalid Al-Naqeedan, CEO of the Buraidah date festival, said the first days of the festival achieved satisfactory revenues for farmers.
He predicted that the coming days would be crucial, with an expected record mark of more than SR600 million within 30 days.
There was a significant participation from GCC countries, notably Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Date dealers and brokers came from within the Kingdom and abroad to buy and export large quantities of dates to different parts of the world, he said.
He said more than 40 percent of dates are normally stored in special refrigerators for the following Ramadan every year.
In this context, Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijri said date traders have a good opportunity to sell 10 to 20 percent of stored dates in the upcoming Haj season, while another 30 percent is sold during the season. The remaining percentage is marketed during the holy month of Ramadan.