World Grain - April 2018 - 58

FEATURE: TURKEY'S ROLE AS WORLD'S TOP FLOUR EXPORTER

As reported by USDA-FAS, in 2017 Turkey started
to implement a new subsidy program for agricultural
products called the National Agriculture Project. The
project aims to diversify Turkey's agricultural production, increase productivity, and reduce the planted
area of water-intensive crops such as rice and corn in
drought-prone areas.
Within the new scheme, Turkey is divided into 941 agricultural basins based on climate and soil categories to
VXEVLGL]HVSHFL¿FFURSVIRUHDFK]RQH,QWRWDOVWUDWHgic crops, including wheat, barley, corn, rye, oats, triticale,
paddy rice and forage crops, are subsidized. Turkey also
continues premium payments to producers and support
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milling by-products are high in demand. Wheat
bran has a higher price in Turkey than many other
countries for several reasons. First, due to the high
level of investment in the dairy and poultry sectors
increasing feed demand, wheat bran is readily available domestically while corn and soybean are imported. Also, animals are generally stall-fed rather
than pasture-fed, and there is a customs duty for imported wheat bran.
The USDA-FAS also cites the high value of byproducts in the Turkish market as another advantage
IRU ZKHDW ÀRXU H[SRUWHUV $FFRUGLQJ WR LWV 7XUNH\
Grain and Feed Update report, wheat bran was 69
turkish liras per tonne ($190 per tonne) in the domestic market as of March 2017, though it was only $135
LOGISTIC ADVANTAGES
in the international market. High wheat bran prices
Turkey's imports from the east provide a transport ad- in the Turkish domestic market due to high demand
YDQWDJHIRULWVÀRXUH[SRUWPDUNHWVVLQFHFRQWDLQHUL]HG IURPWKHIHHGVHFWRUFRQWULEXWHVWRWKHÀRXUH[SRUWHUV¶
cargos are coming to Turkey full and leaving empty, global competitiveness.
ZKLFKDOORZ7XUNLVKÀRXUH[SRUWHUVDORJLVWLFDODGYDQWDJHWR¿QGVKLSVDWDQLQH[SHQVLYHSULFH7KLVVLWXDWLRQ SEED INDUSTRY ADVANCEMENTS
DOVRKHOSV7XUNH\WRH[WHQGLWVÀRXUH[SRUWPDUNHWWR The USDA-FAS notes that Turkey applied prominent
over 100 countries.
changes to its basic policies related to the seed indus,QKLVFRPPHQWDERXW7XUNH\¶VORJLVWLFDGYDQWDJHV try at the beginning of the 1980s and made a transiEsen noted, "Because of the geographical location, tion from a public-based seed industry to a seed indusTurkey has become a hub for all container lines. Big try based on private enterprises with seed production
SRUWVVXFKDV0HUVLQø]PLUDQG,VWDQEXODUHDOVRFRQ- based in Turkey.
tainer gathering and feeding ports. The availability of
Turkish seed policy is based on government supthe containers and having all the containers closer to ported plant breeding and also private breeding. Both
&KLQDPDNHVWKHIUHLJKWFRVWDQGDYDLODELOLW\H[WUHPHO\ the government and private sectors' production capaccompetitive. Almost all the lines have a big container ity has increased with the help of government policies
facility in Turkey."
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VALUE OF BY-PRODUCTS
threefold in last 10 years.
Turkey is one of the largest compound feed produc,QDQRWKHUUHSRUWWKH86'$)$6FRPPHQWHGWKDW
LQJ FRXQWULHV RI WKH ZRUOG DQG FRQVHTXHQWO\ ÀRXU LQ 7XUNH\ FHUWL¿HG VHHG XVH LV H[SHFWHG WR LQFUHDVH
April 2018 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

©derege - stock.adobe.com

One advantage
Turkish millers
enjoy is that the
country is largely
self-sufficient in
wheat, producing
about 20 million
tonnes per year.
Photo by I-Stock.

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World Grain - April 2018

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