Turkey. Sunflower seed import duty in force

3 September, 2019 at 11:09

Over the last three seasons, sunflower seed crushing has grown in Turkey, owing to an increase in production and imports of raw materials. In the 2018/19 season all these indicators reached their highs, reports UkrAgroConsult.

In order to protect local sunflower seed producers, Turkey actively applies state regulation through temporary introduction of import duties on imports of raw materials. This issue becomes especially relevant in the first half of a season, when sunflower seed supply in the domestic market grows, prices fall and commodities of local farmers become non-competitive.

Over the past three seasons, the structure of sunflower seed imports has changed. A diversification, caused by an increase in supply from the Black Sea countries is seen. Moldova remains the key supplier of sunflower seed. Romania and Russia have considerable share in season 2018/19. The share of Ukraine has remained insignificant and varied within the range of 1-4%.

Turkish government decided to raise sunflower seed import duties from 20% to 27% until February 01, 2020. Thus, the increased duties will be in force during the first half of the 2019/20 season. Previously, the duty was raised from 13% to 20% until January 31, 2020.

Given the crop reduction, the domestic demand will require import purchases, which will remain at the previous season’s level and even increase slightly.