US delivers a blow to Turkish poultry exports

Turkish poultry producers’ hopes of a surge in Russian exports have been crushed as Moscow renewed its poultry agreement with the United States, its biggest supplier.

The U.S., a key provider of poultry to Russia, had faced the possibility of losing the market due to "excessive chlorine usage" in its products. As a result of lingering disagreement with the U.S., Russia had announced that it would give its 600,000-ton poultry quota to other countries, primarily Turkey.

Turkish exporters’ hopes were dashed, however, after Russia renewed its agreement with the U.S. during the recent Group-of-20 summit in Toronto. Turkish poultry exporters, who had been preparing for a surge in exports for the past year, were disappointed by the recent development.

According to the latest agreement, Russia will import 450,000 tons of poultry from the U.S.

"Turkey was able to make headway in its exports to Russia," said Zuhal Daştan, chairman of the White Meat Industrialists’ Union, or BESD-BİR.

The issue has been full of uncertainties, DaÅŸtan said. "From the very beginning, both sides talked a lot and determined quotas. But so far Turkey has been unable to export even one kilogram of white meat to Russia," he said.

The U.S.-Russia agreement is a negative development for Turkey, Daştan said. "[The agreement] completely removes Russia’s need for Turkey."

Hard to compete in price

Turkey’s main expectation was to obtain a country-specific quota from Russia and conduct exports within this context, Daştan said. "Still, Turkey remains a country that Russia does business with. The quota for other countries remains at around 180,000 tons due to the high quota for the U.S."

Turkey has no chance to compete with the U.S. in poultry export prices, DaÅŸtan said.

"The U.S. exports mainly drumsticks to Russia – at low prices because Americans do not consume them," he said. "Now, the U.S. can sell one kilogram of white meat for $1.20. Turkey can sell it at $2."

The current situation presents a huge disappointment, according to Ömer Görener, board chairman of Banvit, a leading poultry company based in Bandırma in the northwestern province of Balıkesir.

"Russia had first announced that it wanted to import white meat from Turkey and gave some promises of quota figures," Görener said. "But it did not give Turkey the 150,000-ton white meat quota it wanted, which is a great mistake."

Emre Bor, director general of Turkish poultry company Şeker Piliç, agreed with Görener, saying: "Şeker Piliç continues to be in contact with Russia. We think that we have a chance to enter that market."

Turkey’s white meat exports to Russia have been on the agenda for the past few years. Russia, which imports 786,000 tons of poultry annually, has been importing 600,000 tons from the U.S. Roughly 150,000 tons are imported from European Union countries while 36,000 tons come from other countries.

A total of 13 Turkish poultry companies, including Banvit, Beypiliç, CP Piliç, Erpiliç, Keskinoğlu, Şeker Piliç, Alp Hindi, Banvit Hindi, Aytaç, Bu Piliç, Mudurnu and Pınar Hindi, had received licenses to export to Russia.