THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
The 8-month exports of the region in the field of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and products, which is the most exporting sector of Southeastern Anatolia, was 2.2 billion dollars. The cereal producers in the region, who managed to ramp up the average export unit prices by 10.9 percent, approached 67 million dollars to last year’s data on the basis of value, although they sold 12.4 percent less crop in quantity compared to last year. The 8 percent spike in the Iraqi market was effective in the Middle East’s share in total exports exceeding 50 percent. With these data, Southeastern Anatolia maintained its position as Türkiye’s largest exporting region in the field of cereals.
“Our sectoral product diversity increased our export revenues”
Celal Kadooğlu, Chair of the Southeastern Anatolia Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters Association, stated that they surged their export revenues with the competitive advantage provided by the sectoral crop diversity in a period when the decline in global food prices put pressure on export prices, especially wheat flour and sunflower oil.
Pointing out that since basic food products such as wheat flour and sunflower oil are fixed nutritional requirements, Kadooğlu said, “We should not think about price withdrawals here constantly. Sales prices may decrease in some months, but exporters operating in these areas have a strong financial infrastructure. Since the raw materials used in the export of these products are largely imported inputs, the income and expenditure tables of the companies are balanced. When we look at the sector as a whole, we see that the factors that make a difference in our region this year are products with high sales prices such as sweet biscuits, wafers and chocolate. While the export unit prices of the cereals sector in the country decreased by 0.4 percent, we are pleased that we have positively differentiated from the country.”
“If anyone compromises on quality, we will be against them immediately”
Stating that Southeastern Anatolia, one of the most important agricultural centres of the world, is a geographical brand and that they will fight against any attempt to harm the quality understanding of the producers here, Kadooğlu added, “As a region renowned in the world with its cuisine and culture, we are always a centre of interest for buyers abroad. Everyone knows that there is no other Gaziantep in the world. When buyers import a food product from our region, they want it to be of the same quality as the famous products of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Şanlıurfa. If anyone compromises on quality for unfair competition and jeopardises the image of the Southeast, which has been carefully promoted by our large producers and exporters in the region, we will immediately oppose them.”
“We recently experienced an example in this regard during the allegations that some companies mixed soybean oil imported for use in animal feed with sunflower oil. As the country that exports the most refined sunflower oil in the world, we have warned our public administrators to prevent these attempts. In cooperation with our ministries, we will continue to increase our export revenues without compromising the focus on quality,” he concluded…
