Miller Magazine Issue: 144 December 2021

76 INTERVIEW MILLER / december 2021 or another. I hope that the sector's problems can be resolved by taking more long-term and planned steps as soon as possible. It should not be forgotten that the solution lies in self-sufficiency. All support and planning studies that will ensure the sufficient production of such strategic product groups must be put into practice as soon as possible. Sustainable agriculture and combating climate change are quite important topics. Could you share with us your company's perspective on this matter? Drought causes substantial losses all over the world. As a sector, we must first strive for sustainable agricul- ture and climate change. At Taban Gıda, we are always ready to do our part in all studies and projects in an at- tempt to support agriculture and farmers. In addition to wheat, Taban Gıda is also active in the oilseed and feed market. How is this part going? We gained an admirable seat in the market for wheat bran. In addition, we shine out in the domestic corn trade, too. However, we have not achieved the level we desire in the oilseed and feed raw materials market yet. We post- poned our goals to the next year due to the price increas- es in this period and the volatility of the related sectors. PREPARATIONS FOR A 1000 TON/DAY FLOUR FACTORY Can you tell us about your short- and long- term investment goals? With production and logistics investments that will bol- ster the supply chain in the forthcoming 3 years, we aim to increase our market share in the product group that includes a variety of feed ingredients such as soybean and sunflower meal, barley, corn, wheat bran, in addition to wheat. We started feasibility studies for a flour factory investment with a capacity of 1000 tons/day in Turkey or abroad. We are currently renting high storage capacities in many ports of Turkey. We aim to establish our own silos with a storage capacity of up to 100 thousand tons in 2 years. You are a company that trades with many countries of the world. Many industries are having difficult times due to high energy costs and the broken supply chain. As a company, you entered the freight market with 3 dry cargo vessels purchased by your umbrella compa- ny, Vivalon AG. What would you like to say about the purpose of this investment and your target there? We added 3 dry cargo vessels to our fleet with a total investment of 25 million dollars provided by our umbrella company, Vivalon AG. We made these investments in or- der to have a say in the transit trade market, which is cru- cial to take transportation costs under control. We plan to control the freight market as an expense item, turn it into an income item instead and balance the trade. Even in case the freight markets change course, we have the luxury of tolerating this situation as we have our own