Crisis … of sugar in Turkey: Complaints about empty shelves – Rumors that factories store sugar

Turkish sugar factories have reportedly almost stopped selling sugar in recent days. Due to the high selling price of producers, they find it difficult to supply affordable sugar to consumers.

The state-owned sugar company TÜRKŞEKER, which was privatized under AKP rule, denies in a statement that there is a problem with the supply of supermarkets and that the problem has arisen due to the fact that some companies in the market sell sugar by raising prices.

But Isa Gok, president of the Turkish Sugar Producers Association, said: “Private companies sell sugar at a higher price. TÜRKŞEKER sells at a loss. That’s why it does not want to sell much. Because the loss is growing. There was a big difference between the price. “Beets and the selling price of sugar. For two years now, this gap has been closing. It is turning into a loss. There is an expectation that the price will rise. It is a process that has been going on for a year now.”

TÜRKŞEKER’s announcement stated, “TÜRKŞEKER broke all-time records in many of its factories during the production period 2020-2021. During the production period 2021-2022, TÜRKŞEKER produced about 400 thousand tonnes of sugar, this amount is equal to TÜRKŞEKER has also produced 135 thousand tonnes of sugar for export purposes (C Sugar), a quantity that exceeds its productive responsibility for the domestic market. “Thousands of tons of sugar were produced for export,” he said.

The statement added: “The allegations in various media that there is a problem with the supply of sugar are not true. There is no supply problem. Such an environment has arisen due to the fact that some companies in the market sell products by raising prices.”

The Competition Authority also fined five shopping chains and Savalo Gıda (Saudi Arabia, which owns the brands Sırma, Yudum and Egemden) for the “cartel” offense totaling 7 2.7 billion. The maximum fine was TL 958 million, with United Mağazacılık AŞ (BİM) belonging to the Topbaş family. BİM now faces charges of “not selling sugar for a week”.

BİM published a written statement regarding the complaints spread on social media. While the statement pointed out that Turkish sugar factories were the determining factor for the production and wholesale price of sugar, “the purchase price of sugar is also adjusted according to the selling price of the state-run producer organization. Our company tries to deliver sugar to the consumer with low profit and minimized operating costs “. Stressing that sugar factories have almost stopped selling sugar in recent days, the statement said: “Due to the high selling prices of other manufacturers, we find it difficult to supply affordable sugar to our consumers.”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul MP ​​Sezgin Tanrikulu has made allegations in the House that sugar factories store sugar. Tanrikulu asked Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli “How will Turkish citizens be prevented from waiting in line for sugar in 2021?”

Sezgin Tanrikulu submitted a parliamentary question to the Turkish Grand National Assembly, asking Bekir Pakdemirli to answer.

“Sugar factories have been privatized. We were opposed to these privatizations, but unfortunately these factories have been completely privatized. Now there is a shortage of sugar in Turkey, grocery stores can not buy sugar from wholesalers. There are allegations that sugar the Ministry”.

What has been silenced by almost all Turkish media is the price of sugar in the country itself. As it was observed a week ago, the 5 kg bag of sugar, while it was sold for 27.90 pounds, is now sold for 37.90 pounds, with an increase of 47.5%. According to this information, the wholesale price of sugar increased from 3.93 pounds to 5.80 pounds.

Petros Kranias