Mesut Çakmak, President of the Turkish Flour Industrialists’ Federation (TUSAF), reported that the flour industrialist, who exported 156 thousand tons of flour in April last year, increased its exports to 215.8 thousand tons with an increase of 37 percent in April 2026, despite the war, economic difficulties in the countries in the region and the increase in protectionist tendencies in trade.
Çakmak made statements to the AA correspondent regarding flour industry production and export data and the latest developments in the market.
Explaining that they are working to improve product and market diversity as the flour industry, Çakmak said that they follow the technology in this direction and strive to increase the quality more and more every day.
Providing information about production and export data, Çakmak said, “The flour industrialist, who exported 156 thousand tons of flour in April last year, increased his exports to 215.8 thousand tons in quantity with an increase of 37 percent in April 2026, despite the war, economic difficulties in the countries in the region and the increase in protectionist tendencies in trade. More importantly, exports, which were 59 million dollars in April of last year, increased to 80 million dollars in the same period of this year.” coming out.” he said.
– “We can achieve so-called incredible goals”
Çakmak stated that in the first 4 months of 2026, they exported 713 thousand tons of flour worth 260 million dollars.
Stating that they worked hard as members of the flour industry even though war and costs affected their goals, Çakmak said, “We know that we can reach 3 million tons of exports for 2026, and even exceed it. We remember the year when we reached 3.6 million tons. If we do not step on our own feet, we see on the field that there is no rival that can compete with our quality and experience. With additional steps towards exports, we can achieve the so-called incredible targets.” he said.
Referring to the long-term goals of the flour industry, Çakmak emphasized that they aim to increase their share in the 12 million-ton world export market to over 25 percent. Stating that they can achieve or even exceed this target with experience, quality, capacity and affordable price policy, Çakmak noted that with political steps and public support, they can compete with cost advantaged countries such as Egypt and Russia, even in the African and Arab markets.
– “We will continue to contribute to the fight against inflation”
Drawing attention to the rise in costs such as lighters, labor and freight, he said, “Especially our labor costs have almost reached the level of European Union countries. There are countries that are much more advantageous than us in terms of costs. By using these advantages, they give us a competitive advantage. For example, Egypt, in addition to its cost advantage, also turns the customs union between African and Arab countries into an advantage. Its competitive power increases even more when it is exempt from customs duties. But I have not heard that we have an investor planning to invest in Egypt in the flour sector, and it will happen.” “I don’t think so. As a sector, we have made very serious technological investments in our regions and we are focused on protecting and developing these investments.” he said.
Underlining that flour industrialists kept the price increase approximately 10 points below the general inflation level last year and supported the fight against inflation, Çakmak stated that they will continue to contribute to the fight against inflation with price increases below the inflation rate in 2026.
Referring to the decline in exports in the Iraqi market, Çakmak said, “We want the interventions and arbitrary practices against Turkish flour in Iraq to end. We know that we will regain the Iraqi market with the end of these arbitrary practices. The increases recorded in Ghana, Somalia, Cuba, Indonesia and some African countries supported our strong position in alternative markets. We even export flour to the USA due to our high quality and specific products.” made his assessment.
