Pasta Sector Exports Reach USD 355 Million in January-June Period

Turkey Pasta Manufacturers Association Management Board Chairman Abdülkadir Külahçıoğlu stated that pasta has been one of the most sought-after food products during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Noting that the opening of the tourism season has provided momentum in the domestic market, Külahçıoğlu said, "With the tourism season, the stagnation in the domestic market and losses from the previous year have been recovered. We have entered a rapid recovery process. By year-end, per capita pasta consumption will again reach 8 kilograms. Therefore, we do not expect our sector to suffer losses in either the domestic market or exports." Highlighting that a positive picture is being experienced in foreign sales, Külahçıoğlu said, "The first 6 months of the year have been quite a successful period for us. According to data received from our members, our exports reached 645 thousand tons in the first half of 2021. This generated USD 355 million in revenue." Noting that the sector achieved USD 762.889 million in exports in 2020, Külahçıoğlu said, "We are progressing with confident steps toward this year's USD 800 million export target. Based on the first 6 months of foreign sales data, we are halfway to our annual export target. We can see that by year-end we will reach this target and even exceed it. For 2022, we are reiterating our USD 1 billion export target. We hope that with good yields next year, we will easily achieve this target." Külahçıoğlu informed that Turkey, with 24 pasta companies, holds an important position in both production and exports. Külahçıoğlu continued as follows: "As Turkey's pasta sector, we export to 156 countries. We are the world's second largest exporter and rank third in production. When we exclude protected markets, particularly the anti-dumping duties and compensatory tariffs applied by the United States and the 20 thousand ton quota applied by the European Union, we can say Turkey is the largest exporting country. In fact, we have doubled our closest competitor, Italy. This is an encouraging development for our country. In the upcoming period, discussions regarding the opening of these markets and the removal of quotas continue with the government and the Ministry of Trade. Turkey's pasta sector will reach the position it deserves." Noting that durum wheat planting areas experienced yield losses due to drought, Külahçıoğlu stated that timely and appropriate interventions by the Commodity Office prevented disruption to the supply chain. Expressing that starting pasta exports from soft wheat has positively affected foreign sales, Külahçıoğlu said: "As of 1 May, the Ministry of Trade issued permission to produce 100 percent soft wheat pasta for exports to African and South American countries as well as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, in line with customer requests. This removed obstacles in front of our exports. The way has been cleared for compensating for the 20 percent loss caused by strict export restrictions in these target markets during the first 4 months of the year and reaching last year's export figures." Source