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Türkiye on Monday authorized a new tariff quota allowing the duty-free import of up to 500,000 tons of corn until July 31, raising concern among local farmers ahead of the harvest season.
The decision, effective immediately, was accompanied by a regulation issued by the Trade Ministry outlining the allocation method and procedures for applications and usage under the quota.
The latest move comes on top of previously approved quotas of 1 million tons each in October 2024, March 2025, and May 2025, bringing the total of imported corn in recent months to 3 million tons.
Regarding the decision, the Adana Farmers' Union from southern Türkiye warned that the timing of the import—just weeks before the domestic harvest—could depress prices and reduce demand for local corn.
The union’s president, Mutlu Dogru, stated that farmers were already facing difficulties this season due to drought-related irrigation problems and rising production costs. Importing large volumes of low-cost foreign corn without customs duties so close to the harvest could harm domestic growers, Dogru told Bloomberg HT.
Dogru also raised several questions about the rationale and implications of the decision. He pointed to the risk that storage facilities might be filled with imported corn before the domestic harvest begins, which could create supply surpluses and make market conditions more challenging for producers by putting downward pressure on prices.
He questioned the necessity of a 500,000-ton quota for just 15 days, suggesting it implies an annual consumption estimate of 12 million tons. Dogru further noted that despite cheaper corn imports, feed prices in the animal feed industry—the largest consumer of corn—have not declined, raising questions about who benefits from the imports and how they are used.
Türkiye’s corn production is expected to increase by over 5% in 2025 compared to the previous year, reaching 8.5 million tons, according to official estimates from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
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