Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, said Turkey is the number one country in flour exports and comes in the second place for pasta exports. “Turkey exports flour and wheat to 120 countries and pasta to 150 countries,” he says. 

Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, and Bülent Tüfenkci, Minister for Customs and Trade, give important messages during Turkish Flour Industrialists’ Federation (TFIF) 14th International Congress and Exhibition that brought domestic and foreign flour producers and exporters together in Belek district of Antalya. During his address, Fakıbaba said the cereal price generally followed a flat line. He said that during 2017-18 season, the total cereal production around the world reached 2.6 billion tons while its trade was 400 million tons, adding that during the last five years, the cereal production has been at a record level. He underlined that Turkey is a hub for cereal production, adding that the cereal trade in the world revolves around Turkey in the last 15 years.

‘TURKEY İS A WHEAT EXPORTER COUNTRY’ Minister of Agriculture Fakıbaba talked about ‘wheat import’ during his address. Responding to the accusations raised by the opposition that Turkey even needs wheat, Fakıbaba said that: “Thank God we don’t import wheat. Instead, we export wheat. When we look at the last couple of years, Turkey uses 2.5-3 tons wheat for export of finished products. Since Turkey is self-sufficient in wheat, farmers export flour, bulgur, biscuit, and pasta together with their wheat. When we look at the last 10 years, we have imported 41.4 million tons of wheat, but we exported 48.5 million tons of wheat. So, Turkey is a net exporter country.” The minister said that Turkey is the number one country in flour export while staying at the second place for pasta export. According to the minister, Turkey exports flour and bulgur to 120 countries while it exports pasta to 150 countries. He said that the railway between Baku, Tbilisi and Kars will reinforce the place of Turkey’s cereal production, adding that this project will turn Turkey into an important center for international commodity exchange. The minister noted that with long-term leasing, Turkey will have 4 million tons licensed storehouse under the leadership of Turkish Grain Board.

ANKARA IS IN CONTACT WITH BAGDAD Tufenkci, the Minister of Customs and Trade, called on flour companies to brand and differentiate themselves, and deepen in markets by listening to the demands. Underlining the newly-established product markets, he said that: “Together with product special market, we will create a market for agriculture trade. Now, we will decide the price of wheat and other agricultural products in Turkey, not in the United States.” Turkish minister said his government has been in talks with Bagdad so that it can lift 60 USD tax per tons for Turkey origin food products. He underlined that this issue will be the most important issue during their economic meetings with Bagdad in April.