Turkey is struggling with its record wheat stocks

In short: • Inventories at the beginning of the season reached 5.3 million tons • Turkish flour is losing markets in Iraq Despite a projected drop in production of 2 million tons annually, Turkey still has large wheat stocks it is trying to liquidate, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). With wheat ending stocks reaching a record 5.3 million tonnes at the end of the 2023-24 marketing year, the Turkish government announced in June that it was suspending wheat imports until October 15 to try to reduce oversupply. But FAS notes that due to the large price difference between Turkish and imported wheat ($320/ton vs. $240/ton) during the ban, flour and pasta exporters were reluctant to use domestic wheat and instead chose to waiting for imports to resume. At the end of the shutdown two weeks ago, the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) notified processors that they could import 15% of their wheat needs in exchange for buying 85% of ...