Turkey has become a major hub for the trans-shipment of agricultural products including oilseeds, grains and pulses, due to investments in domestic port infrastructure and increased participation in regional and global trade systems, World Grain reported from US Department of Agriculture (USDA) analysis.
Markets in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa had benefited as destinations from Turkey’s rising trans-shipment role, the 2 September report said.
In 2022, the value of trans-shipped agricultural products had doubled compared to the previous few years to an estimated record of US$4bn and, despite dipping slightly to US$3.8bn in 2023, was expected to continue increasing substantially.
Based on analysis by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the top five trans-shipped products by value and volume last year were oilseeds, grains, pulses, tree nuts and juice.
The trans-shipped products originated from a range of countries, some close in proximity like Ukraine and Russia, and other more distant destinations such as the USA and Argentina.
“With the war in Ukraine and uncertainty in the Black Sea, Turkey has become an even more important trans-shipment hub for oilseeds and grains from both Russia and Ukraine,” the FAS said.
“Recent troubles in the Red Sea have also reinforced Turkey as a centre for handling trans-shipped cargoes going to the Middle East and Africa.”
Trans-shipment volumes had increased over the past decade alongside the expansion of Turkey’s logistical infrastructure and increased Black Sea capacity to export grains and oilseeds, the FAS report said.
Between 2013/23, there had been a five-fold increase in trans-shipments of these bulk commodities from about 500,000 tonnes to 2.5M tonnes.
Despite the ongoing war which started in February 2022, Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, while Ukraine is one of the leading shippers of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil to global markets, according to the report.
