“We are proud to be a country that does not have a foreign trade deficit in cereals.”
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Global wheat prices have fallen significantly this year due to the increase in world wheat stocks. Despite the decline in production in the Black Sea countries, world wheat production in 2024 is expected to be close to 800 million tons. When this data is multiplied by the world population, it means that the world produces 100 kg of wheat per person per year. On the other hand, Türkiye, with a population of 85 million people, produces approximately 250 kg of wheat per capita with an annual yield of 21 million tons. The strength of our country in wheat production is directly reflected in the performance of our cereals, pulses and oilseeds sector in its field of activity.
According to 2023 data, our annual wheat flour and pasta exports total 5 million tons. Türkiye, which exported 3.5 million tons of wheat flour to 164 countries last year, has been the world export champion in this field for 9 years.
Another characteristic of our sector is that it covers value-added products such as biscuits and pastry, cocoa products, oil seeds and spices, with average unit prices ranging between 2 and 4 dollars per KG... According to 2023 data, Türkiye exports more than 1.5 million tons of biscuits and pastry, nearly 1.5 million tons of vegetable oil, more than 1 million tons of sugar and sugar and products, and nearly 1 million tons of cocoa products, and earns nearly 12.5 billion dollars a year from the total foreign trade of our sector.
On the other hand, another characteristic of Türkiye is that it does not have a foreign trade deficit in our sector's field of activity. According to TURKSTAT's calculations, Türkiye's total imports and total exports are at similar levels in the chapters defined as cereals, milling products, malt, starch, inulin, oil seeds and fruits, various grains, seeds and fruits, straw and roughage, sugar and sugar products, cocoa and cocoa preparations, various edible food preparations, roughage prepared for animals. In short, Türkiye is proud to be a country that does not have a foreign trade deficit in this field while producing customized solutions for the food needs of different cultures from different geographies of the world and, more importantly, segments with different purchasing power.
Behind these successful data is the contribution of a wide range of people, from the producers in the field to the public administrators who support our producers, from the companies that process the raw materials to our exporter enterprises. It is this cooperation and dedication that makes the Turkish Food Exporters brand strong.
I would like to express my gratitude to all our stakeholders for making our industry proud.
Ahmet TİRYAKİOĞLU
Chairman of TİM Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds, and Products Sector Board