Turkish exporters, who have achieved success in flour, pasta and biscuit exports, exported 1 billion 466 million dollars of flour and 911 million dollars of pasta last year. The total exports of the cereals, pulses, oilseeds and products sector in 2023 was 12.4 billion dollars.
Total exports of the cereals, pulses, oilseeds and products sector, which covers basic food products, especially biscuit-pasta, wheat flour, vegetable oils, sugary and cocoa products and pasta, totalled 12.4 billion dollars in 2023. Although the sector increased its exports by 36 percent on quantity basis compared to the previous year to 14.7 million tonnes, total export revenue increased by 8 percent due to the decline in global food prices. The highest figure on sector basis was flour exports with 1 billion 466 million dollars. Pasta exports totalled $911 million, while sweet biscuit and wafer exports reached $892 million.
Evaluating the global food agenda and Turkey's total exports in this field, Ahmet Tiryakioğlu, Chairman of TIM Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Sector Board, said: "It was a period in which we once again demonstrated with the data that Turkey is a shining country in the world food trade and that its geopolitical importance in this field opens new doors for our exporters. The 8 to 22 per cent increase in yields in product groups such as wheat, barley, rye and sugar beet in 2023 will make a great contribution to our food production and exports in the new year. We process these products, which are also valuable in their raw form in terms of agricultural production, in the state-of-the-art facilities of our enterprises under appropriate conditions and make them ready for consumer use. Despite the intense competition in this field, we are looking for ways to open our products to new markets in different parts of the world while maintaining our high share in our neighbouring countries. If food prices remain at the levels we want in 2024, we believe that we can easily reach our export target of 15 billion dollars at the end of the year."
Stating that the abundance experienced in wheat production this year enabled food exporters to look at 2024 with hope, Tiryakioğlu said: "Giving priority to protecting producers against cost increases in the purchasing policies of the Turkish Grain Board was a correct and appropriate practice in terms of sustainable food production. Because our producers are not only struggling with the increase in basic inputs such as fertiliser and diesel, but also trying to manage the risks posed by global climate change on the product in the field. Even though our state provides the highest support by taking into account the economic conditions in the world, our farmers who continue agricultural production in today's challenging conditions always deserve a big thank you."
"We will make the increase in more than 100 countries and free zones permanent"
Ahmet Tiryakioğlu, Chairman of TIM Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Sector Board
Tiryakioğlu pointed out that some markets in food exports have reached the saturation point for Turkey and stated that their aim at this stage is to establish new relationships in different regions. Sector Board Chairman Tiryakioğlu concluded his words as follows: "We can say that countries such as Iraq, Iran and Syria, which rank high in our food exports, have reached a certain saturation point, considering their current economic size. The total exports of our sector to these three countries exceeded 3 billion dollars this year. We conduct multidimensional market analyses in our studies with the leading representatives of the sector. Apart from these three countries, we observe that we can further increase our share of $10 billion from the rest of the world. It was not a coincidence that we increased our exports to more than 100 countries and free zones in the past year. We aim to diversify our export markets and deepen our commercial connections by increasing our cooperation and international partnerships."