Turkey, which has 33 sugar factories in total, including public, private and cooperative, and is one of the few countries in the world in beet production, started to import sugar after 24 years due to the wrong privatization and sugar sales policy.
While Turkey imported a total of 550,000 tons of sugar in the 11 months of 2022, it paid 404 million dollars for the imported sugar.
According to TUIK foreign trade data, Turkey imported a total of 552,000 tons of sugar in the 11 months of 2022.
Turkey's sugar imports within the scope of DIR vary between 150,000 and 200,000 tons on average over the years, while it is thought that 350,000 tons of the 552,000 tons of sugar imported in the 11 months of 2022 were put on the market.
While Turkey is one of the few countries in the world in beet production, the produced beet is processed into sugar in 33 factories.
In our country, there are 15 sugar factories owned by the state, 12 owned by the private sector and 6 owned by beet cooperatives.
The fact that Turkey, which has a say in beet and sugar production, can even import sugar sold in markets and grocery stores outside the scope of DIR, reveals the bitter contradiction in agriculture.
IT IS NOT KNOWN HOW MANY OF THE IMPORTED SUGAR IS SOLD ON THE MARKET!
After 24 years, Turkey decided to import 400 thousand tons of sugar to be used in domestic consumption within the scope of A, while it is not known how much of the imported 550 thousand tons of sugar is sold in the market and how much is used in products for export by food companies.
The lack of control and control in the sugar sector makes it impossible to monitor the production amounts of starch-based sugars within the quota, while dragging the sugar market into a great chaos.
WHO BENEFIT FROM CHAOS?
While the lack of control in the sugar market gives certain rent circles the opportunity to make big profits over sugar, this lack of control in a strategic product like sugar also raises question marks.
While sugar prices were low in 2022, and how much sugar was sold to traders via Türkşeker, the public was persistently hiding, between January 1 and May 31, 2022, companies that bought large amounts of sugar from Türkşeker made huge profits that they could not see in their lives.
SUGAR IMPORT DROPPED THE MARKET'S BALANCE OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND!
While Turkey's heavy importation of sugar in 2022, even though it did not need it, disrupted the supply-demand balance of the market, the sugar produced in the new campaign period remained in stock.
Due to the shrinkage in demand, sugar factories cannot sell the sugar they produce for 18 liras for the beet they bought last year for 435 liras, but this year they cannot sell the sugar they produce for the beet they bought for 1,450 liras.
THE PRICE OF SUGAR IN MARKETS HAS BEEN UP TO 21 LIRA!
Due to imported sugar, Turkey entered the new campaign period with 300 thousand tons of sugar stock, and this stock amount made it difficult to market the newly produced sugar.
While the factory sales price of sugar was in the band of 18 liras due to the shrinkage in demand, the retail sales price decreased to 21 liras.
Sugar prices went up to 30 liras due to the sugar crisis.
While sugar prices do not decrease while sugar is imported, the decrease in prices with domestic sugar production is also thought-provoking.