THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
Hüseyin Arslan, Chairman of the Board of the Mediterranean Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds and Products Exporters’ Association (AHBİB), stated that they achieved an export of 160.2 million dollars in November by increasing 44 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
Noting that the increases in freight prices and the crisis of not finding empty containers have reached alarming levels, Arslan said the industry has turned to conventional methods in ship loading to overcome the problems in this area.
‘International container companies that have become monopolized surge their prices with various excuses’
Arslan noted that the increase in global logistics costs provides a serious competitive advantage for Turkey, which is close to the European, Middle East and North African markets.
Expressing that measures should be taken to make this action sustainable, Arslan explained, “While the market share of the top 10 international container companies was 50 percent in the 2000s, this figure has increased to 80 percent today. These companies, which have formed consortia among themselves and become almost monopolized, raise their freight prices for their own interests, with various excuses. According to the Drewery World Container Index, the increase in ship container prices has exceeded 300 percent compared to a year ago. At this point, our companies have started to carry out their business with conventional methods instead of using containers for ship loading.”
“The problem of not being able to find containers in Canada, the USA and China continues, but there has been some relief in Turkey lately. Recently, Turkey has activated the Transport International Routier (TIR) Carnet for transportation with the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan against the container crisis and rising costs in maritime transportation. In this context, the lorries loaded from the Sharjah Port in the UAE enter the Bander Abbas Port in Iran and then enter Turkey through the Gürbulak Border Gate using the motorway. The route opened through Iran in transportation to the Gulf Region has given us great flexibility,” Arslan added.
Expressing that a national container and logistics network should be established for the solution of the problem, Arslan concluded, “Private sector alone is insufficient in this field and that state support is essential.”
