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Press release…
September 7, 2020- Ankara
Union of Turkish Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) President Şemsi Bayraktar said that the egg industry had hard times and new markets should be found as soon as possible.
Bayraktar reported that the egg industry, which has a production value of 7.4 billion liras, is going through difficult times. Pointing out that egg producers are waiting for an urgent solution, Bayraktar said, “The closure of the Iraqi market, the decrease in demand due to the pandemic, increases in input costs, especially the feed prices that increase due to the exchange rate and the lower cost of the producer prices have brought the sector shrinkage.”
“Country-based strategic steps are essential in egg exports”
Expressing that the problems in foreign trade also put manufacturers in trouble in terms of prices, Bayraktar noted:
“As Union of Turkish Agricultural Chambers, we have stated on every platform that being dependent on a single country in the foreign markets is too risky. We need country-based strategies and steps to develop the range of foreign markets. Otherwise, the industry will suffer seriously in case of any adverse event. “
Bayraktar noted, “What we thought was happening to us, the Iraqi market, on which we were heavily dependent, closed as of mid-2019, no alternative markets were found to replace them.”
Explaining that Iraq’s share in total exports decreased from 86.8 percent in 2016, 90.2 percent in 2017, 81.7 percent in 2018, 44.6 percent in 2019 and decreased to zero in 2020 with the country’s ban on imports, Bayraktar added, “Iraq is establishing large coops and plans to end imports with these investments. This market is unlikely to resume in the near future. Although the sector tries to heal the wounds of the Iraqi market with the gulf countries, they face a high cost factor.”
“At this stage, the sector needs to come together and determine some strategic steps for the country for new markets.
In this period when the country is in dire need of foreign currency, it is not an acceptable situation that the most important export item is interrupted.
Measures to reduce the cost should be taken, export supports should be increased to levels that will bring the producer to a permanent and competitive level in the market,” Bayraktar concluded…
