Çalkan Group, a red meat supplier to the Turkish giant Banvit, has exported nearly 20 tons of poultry to Russia following the lifting of a Turkish poultry import ban. The group is the first Turkish exporter to do so.
Çalkan Group exported 20 tons outside an existing Russian import quota in order to penetrate the existing market. Because the company exported outside the scope of the quota they were made to pay 80 percent of customs duty, 25 percent of which will be reimbursed later.
Even though the Turkish press published articles saying that Russia had approved the import of 500,000 tons of poultry from Turkey, Çalkan chairman Mustafa Çalkan said, “There is no special quota allocation for Turkey according to the Russians.” He said Turkey is included in a group of 18 exporting countries that can collectively import a total of 150,000 tons of poultry to Russia.
Stressing that Turkish exporters had recently struggled to compete with the United States firms, Çalkan said the U.S. provides the cheapest poultry – only $500 per ton – for the Russian market.
If Turkey had the chance to compete with U.S. prices it could nearly fill the export quota of 150,000 tons by itself, Çalkan said.
“Unfortunately Turkish poultry is expensive,” he said. “Turkish poultry sold for $2,000 per ton in the domestic market a few months ago and when it comes to exporting to the Russian market the price rises to $2,800 because of additional transportation costs and taxes.”
Noting that Turkey had lifted its ban on poultry imports from the U.S., Çalkan said prices might drop in the Turkish market because of the arrival of cheap U.S. poultry.
