The total exports of the cereals, pulses, oilseeds and products sector, which includes basic food products such as biscuits, wheat flour, vegetable oils, sugary and cocoa products and pasta, increased by 7.3 percent to 5.0 billion dollars at the end of the first five months of the year.
In May, when the highest exports in Turkey’s history were realized, the monthly export increase of the cereals sector was 13.8 percent, above the average of all sectors. In five months, revenues from Iraq, the largest export destination, increased by 11.6 percent, while the USA ranked second despite an 8.5 percent decline. In this period, biscuit and cake exports amounted to 706.4 million dollars, wheat flour exports to 603.0 million dollars and vegetable oil exports to 593.2 million dollars.
“TMO will observe market realities as well as producer expectations”
Ahmet Tiryakioğlu, Chairman of the TİM Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Sector Board, stated that cereals exports increased by 25.4 percent in terms of quantity in the five-month period, noting that agricultural productivity is more important than ever for the sector at a point where prices have declined, and said:
“There has been a decline in global wheat prices due to the increase in world wheat stocks. A significant portion of the 13.1 million tons of grain purchased by TMO last year was transferred to stocks this year. This year, we expect to produce 21 million tons of wheat due to both increased sowing areas and above seasonal average rainfall except for April. In an environment of high stocks, we anticipate that the wheat purchase prices to be announced by TMO will be in line with market realities, even if the expectations of producers are taken into consideration.”
“Competition will not affect our strong trade relations in the Middle East and Asia”
Pointing out that although there has been some movement in recent weeks, wheat flour export prices per KG are 16.6 percent below last year according to data for the January-May period, Tiryakioğlu said:
“Despite the decline in production in the Black Sea countries this year, global prices will not rise excessively due to the expectation that world wheat production will be close to 800 million tons. On the other hand, the demand for wheat will be lively again as the product in the warehouses of many countries, especially China and Russia, has started to decrease. In the 5-month period, our wheat flour exports increased by 26.4 percent in terms of quantity. Competitors such as Australia, Argentina and the US may be more aggressive in selling their crops, but this will not affect our strong trade relations in the Middle East and Asia.”
