Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said the wheat production meets Turkey’s needs, adding that imported wheat has been used as raw materials for exported product. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said that the export of wheat products like flour, pasta, bulgur, biscuit, and semolina have contributed added value to the national economy for many years. “Since 2002, 68 million tons worth of USD 27 million has been exported vis-a-vi 54 million tons of wheat worthy of USD 15 million has been imported. So, in this period, this contributed USD 12 billion to the national economy. In 2002, Turkey was ranked 11th place in the flour export while it has been listed first and second place based on the year since 2005. Again, Turkey was listed 7th place in 2002 for the pasta export. Since 2005, Turkey has been ranked second place,” the ministry said in its statement. The ministry said Turkey grow 21 million tons of wheat while its consumption is around 19-20 million tons. “As the figures show, the wheat production in Turkey met the consumption. Our country imports around 4 million tons of wheat annually. Much of this import has been used for the production of flour, pasta, biscuit, semolina, and bulgur, and these products are exported. In other words, the imported wheat has been used as raw material for export. Thus, without creating pressure over production supply in the country, imported products are processed and are marketed as high value added product. In the light of this information, Turkey is a net exporter. As a consequence, the wheat production met the need,” the ministry said.