Turkey is increasing wheat imports, but cutting supplies from Russia

Turkey plans to increase wheat imports by 1 million tons to 11 million tons in the 2022/23 MY compared to the current season due to growing demand for bread and other wheat-based products, according to FAS USDA experts in a report on April 18, 2022.

In order to stabilize prices, the Turkish government has zeroed the import duty on wheat and other grains (except rice) for 2022. According to forecasts, wheat imports in 2021/22 MY will amount to 10 million tons, and as of February 1, 6.95 million tons of wheat have already been imported, mainly from Russia and Ukraine, although supplies from Romania and Moldova have increased. During international tenders, the TMO agency has purchased more than 3 million tons of wheat during this time, and in June 2021 the average purchase price was $ 260 / t, and in March it was already $ 400 / t.

Here are the volumes of wheat imports by Turkey in terms of countries of origin (t)

* For the season 2021/22 data for the period June - January.

Turkey continues to buy wheat in Russia, but is looking for alternative suppliers, given the uncertainty in supply chains in both Russia and Ukraine. This year, Turkey has increased wheat imports from Romania and Moldova, and in March bought 230,000 tons of wheat from Argentina, which is not a traditional grain supplier.

At the same time, Turkey has reduced imports of durum wheat from Canada and Mexico amid high world prices for durum wheat. After a sharp rise in prices, the country's authorities allowed the use of flour to produce pasta for export. There are complaints that some export pasta is labeled as 100% made from durum wheat, which is not true. Previously, the country was allowed to export pasta from only 100% durum wheat, except for deliveries to Africa, where since 2015 it was allowed to export pasta from flour.