Exports of the agriculture, food and beverage sector increased by 16.49% to $4.75 billion in the first 2 months of the year compared to the same period of 2023.
Turkish Food and Beverage Industry Associations Federation (TGDF) announced the results of the TGDF Digital Data Panel prepared by the Turkish Statistical Institute based on foreign trade data.
Accordingly, in the January-February period, exports of the agriculture, food and beverage sector increased by 16.49% on an annual basis to $4.75 billion, while imports decreased by 15.99% to $3.15 billion.
During this period, the sector’s foreign trade surplus increased from $33 million to $1.6 billion.
When we look at the products that stood out in exports in the first 2 months, it was seen that flour took the first place with $259.4 million. Flour was followed by hazelnuts with $244 million and tangerines with $164.8 million.
In imports, wheat ranked first with $389.8 million, followed by soybeans with $272 million and crude sunflower oil with $175.5 million.
February export data
The exports of the sector reached $2.33 billion in February, with an increase of 22.14% on an annual basis. In February, imports decreased by 15.17% to $1.55 billion. Imports decreased by 37% in wheat, 41.3% in crude sunflower oil and 11.3% in soybeans. In the month in question, the sector had a foreign trade surplus of $780 million.
Russia and Ukraine maintained their first place in imports
In the January-February period, Russia and Ukraine continued to be the top 2 countries where most wheat was purchased. During this period, $276.3 million of wheat was imported from Russia and $93.7 million of wheat was imported from Ukraine.
Ukraine ranked first in soybean imports with $105 million. This country was followed by Brazil and the USA. In sunflower oil imports, the top of the list was Ukraine with $93.4 million, Russia with $71.8 million and Romania with $5.9 million.
Sectors with the most exports and imports
It was observed that in the first 2 months of the year, the highest export was made in sugar and confectionery products with $545 million. This group was followed by fresh fruit with $470 million, nuts with $442 million, fisheries and aquatic products with $315 million, and vegetable oils with $266 million.
In the same period, the highest imports were made in the animal feed sector with $856 million. This was followed by vegetable oils with $524 million, flour with $442 million, cocoa and chocolate with $180 million, and live animal trade with $134 million.
Countries that stand out in foreign trade
The country with the most exports in the January-February period was Iraq with $607 million. Exports of $338 million were made to Germany, $269 million to Russia, $256 million to the USA and $184 million to Italy.
Flour, frozen chicken meat, wafers and waffles came to the fore in exports to Iraq, hazelnuts, packaged hazelnuts and canned olives in exports to Germany, and tangerines, trout and lemons in exports to Russia.
In the first 2 months, the largest import was from Russia with $616 million. Russia was followed by Ukraine with $386 million, the USA with $215 million, Brazil with $191 million and Malaysia with $126 million.
Wheat, raw sunflower and sunflower meal came to the fore in imports from Russia, soybeans, wheat and crude sunflower oil in imports from Ukraine, and ethylene glycol, soybeans and feed raw materials for animals in imports from the USA.
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz