THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
The four-month exports of the cereal, pulse, oilseed and products sector, which includes basic food products, primarily wheat flour, pasta, vegetable oils, biscuits and sugary and cocoa products, were announced as 4.2 billion dollars. Cereal producers, who managed to ramp up their exports by 5.6 percent during this period, also ramped up their export share in the field of plant products within the agricultural production group to 50.8 percent.
Total cereal exports increased by 5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 4.3 million tonnes. The most exported goods group was chocolate and cocoa products with 401.1 million dollars, followed by sunflower oil with 366 million dollars. Iraq, which came first in terms of the sector with 647.6 million dollars in exports, experienced a 12.7 percent contraction, while the USA, which saw a 26.4 percent increase, came in second with 266.5 million dollars. These two countries were followed by Syria, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, respectively.
“There is a spike in employment in the food products sector”
Ahmet Tiryakioğlu, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM) Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Sector Board, stated that while the shipment tempo in the global food trade is slowing down, the boost in Türkiye’s grain exports in terms of quantity is related to the quality of its regularly purchased products and said the following:
“There is a slowdown in global food trade due to the decrease in demand in China, the world’s largest grain importer, and the decrease in supply of some products such as corn by Brazil and barley by Russia, which are among the major exporters. Despite the continuation of the negative outlook in the foreign trade climate and the fact that Türkiye is not a cheap country in terms of foreign exchange, the fact that our food exports are increasing is also related to our product quality. With the lifting of the wheat import ban in March, our exports of all milling products, especially wheat flour, will surge even more. According to the sectoral PMI report, while there was a general loss of momentum in new orders in the second quarter of the year, the only sector that remained in the expansion zone was food products.”
Pointing out that in this environment where employment losses continue in many sectors, the food products category was among the sectors where employment volume increased, he added, “Our sector’s strong production infrastructure supports supply security in the domestic market and contributes to limiting the volatility in food prices. This situation creates a strategic balancing element in the fight against inflation, while our sector continues to earn foreign exchange with export revenues.”
