Press release…
Fisheries and animal products sector closed the first half of 2020 with 1 billion 127 million dollars of exports.
Turkish fisheries and animal products sector as from the beginning of the 2000s, has been one of the leading export sectors in Turkey.
Bedri Girit, Chairman of Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters’ Association, said, “Especially after our aquaculture, poultry and egg sectors increased their exports, we were proud of being the first sector that achieved the export targets of 2023 with the export amount of 2 billion 514 million dollars we realized at the end of 2020.”
Within the scope of fisheries and animal products industry, Turkey takes place among the top 10 producing and exporting countries worldwide in all products, especially aquaculture, poultry, eggs, dairy products and honey.
Stating that in the last 20-25 years, Turkish entrepreneurs brought the world’s most modern and integrated facilities in the fisheries and animal products sector to Turkey, Girit said, “We have come to the position of exporting fishery products and animal products, especially poultry meat, eggs, dairy products and honey, produced in these facilities to more than 150 countries.”
Girit noted, “In exports, our fisheries sector made the biggest contribution with an amount of 1 billion 38 million dollars, while our poultry sector brought 910 million dollars to our country. While our export of chicken meat, turkey meat and breeder was 615 million dollars, the export of eggs was 295 million dollars.”
Girit added, “We earned 325 million dollars from our dairy exports and 25 million dollars from our honey exports. Apart from the five main products, we obtained 232 million dollars foreign currency income from our exports.”
Girit continued as follows: “When we look at the breakdown of our performance in 2020, our aquaculture industry did not leave the leadership with a foreign exchange return of 459 million dollars. Turkish sea bass again became the favourite of the whole world with its export amount of 162 million dollars. Turkey while getting foreign currency from the export of 147 million dollars sea bream, trout exports 58 million dollars and tuna exports have passed 26 million dollars in our records. Black Sea Salmon, which is one of the species developed after the R&D studies of the Turkish aquaculture industry in recent years, is worth 9.3 million dollars, while the rock bass has reached an export level of 3.5 million dollars.”
Pointing out that while their poultry industry chalked up an export of 393 million dollars to its records, the export of poultry meat was 283 million dollars, Girit explained, “The decrease in the export of poultry meat was limited to 3 percent. Chicken and turkeys spawned 110 million dollars in foreign currency. The export of our dairy products industry in January – June 2020, which was uplifted with the export permit to China, was 143 million dollars. Honey exports increased by 18 percent to 13 million 100 thousand dollars.”
“As Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters’ Association, we preserved our pioneer position in the industry across Turkey, by achieving 957 million dollar exports. On the other hand we made a 38 percent contribution to Turkey’s total fisheries and animal products exports which amounted to 2 billion 514 million dollars in 2019,” Girit concluded…