Miller Magazine Issue: 151 July 2022

Miller Magazine’s editorial team witnessed the wheat harvest in Mardin, the an- cient city of Mesopotamia's fertile lands and one of Turkey's top-quality grain pro- duction centers. We had the opportunity to evaluate the sector with farmers and flour industrialists in a harvest program organized by Taban Gıda in Mardin. It is a matter of curiosity how the climatic effects will affect the harvest and how the yield will be. Will the harvest make the farmers happy after the high purchase price given by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO)? We had the opportunity to observe and evaluate the wheat harvest in Mardin with Hasan Hacıhaliloğlu, CEO of Taban Gıda, the sector leader in the domestic wheat supply market in Turkey. Hasan Hacıhaliloğlu expects a higher wheat yield in Turkey this season com- pared to previous years. “There is a 10-15% difference between our estimates and the Turkish Statistical Institute. TurkStat expects a wheat harvest of 19,5 million tons for this season. However, we estimate the yield to be around 17 million tons. This is also the expectation in the USDA reports,” he says. Veysi Duyan, Chairman of the Dicle Flour Industrialists' Association (DUNSAD), also disagrees with TurkStat’s forecast. “According to our research, Turkey will pro- duce 17-17.5 million tons of wheat this season. I believe that 1.5-2 million tons of this amount will be low-quality wheat that the flour and pasta industry cannot use. I think we should make our calculations in this direction,” he states in an interview with Miller Magazine. Mardin has a special place in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, which has a large share in Turkey's flour export. Flour exports of Mardin are mainly to Iraq and Syria, which are the closest markets. Iraq, which imports 2.5-3 million tons of flour annually, has a very important share in Turkey's flour export. However, develop- ments in the Iraqi market in recent years worry some Turkish flour industrialists. Iraq has been establishing mills to produce its own flour in recent years. Drawing attention to this development, Hacıhaliloğlu warns, “The number of flour factories in Iraq is increasing rapidly. Iraq has now started to export wheat instead of flour. If the newly established plants come into operation and the flour industrialists with in- vestments in Mardin and the surrounding provinces cannot find alternative markets, these investments will be rubbish. They should definitely create new markets for themselves with alternative markets and different products.” However, Veysi Duyan is not as worried as Hacıhaliloğlu. “In our country, institu- tions representing the public and private sectors have a culture and mechanisms to develop a protective strategy for our important markets by working together in coordination and within the framework of a plan. At this point, I think that with the cooperation of the public and private sectors, Iraqi and Turkish industrialists will reach a balance within a fair and reasonable competition in the flour trade,” he says. editor Namık Kemal PARLAK millermagazine company/millermagazine millermagazine Parantez Publishing and Congress Ltd. Gökevler Mah. 2312 Sok. No:16/37 Ginza Corner Plaza, Esenyurt / İstanbul - TURKEY T. +90 212 347 31 64 F. +90 212 212 02 04 www.millermagazine.com info@millermagazine.com On Behalf of Parantez Publishing and Congress Ltd., Owner Zübeyde Kavraz Responsible Manager Namık Kemal Parlak Editor-in-Chief Namık Kemal Parlak Editors Mustafa Yağmurlu Cemalettin Kanaş Sales and Marketing Burcu Çetin Hayriye Turan Art Director and Visual Design Özer Duman Corporate Communications Ahmet Hamdi Annaç Consultancy Board Ali İhsan Özkaşıkçı, Chairman of AUSD Mesut Çakmak, Chairman of GUSAD Erhan Özmen, GUSAD Honorary Chairman Bekir Bağış, Chairman of Çukurova Flour Industrialists Association Hasan Özmermer, Board Member of Özmermer Flour Derviş Toprak Mehmet Şerif Gültay Referee and Scientific Advisory Board Prof. Dr. Mustafa Bayram Prof. Gustavo Sosa Prof. Dr. Hazım Özkaya Prof. Dr. Harun Dıraman Asst. Prof. M. Kürşat Demir Asst. Prof. Halef Dizlek Asst. Prof. Mustafa Erbaş Publication Type Periodic (Monthly) Printing - Baskı İhlas Gazetecilik A.Ş. Merkez Mah. 29 Ekim Cad. No: 11 A 41 Yenibosna-Bahçelievler-İstanbul Tel: 0212 454 30 00 All copyrights belong to Parantez Publishing. © May not be used without permission. Responsibility of the ads belongs to the advertisers. ISSN 2718-031X COPYRIGHT PAGE The danger waiting for Turkish flour industrialists