In the central province of Konya, Turkey’s largest grain production center, the Soil Products Office (TMO) was only able to buy 293,000 tons of wheat, less than half the amount it bought last year. Observers say the rest is being stored by intermediaries who expect a jump in prices, taking into account a recent Russian ban on wheat exports for a year because of wildfires that swept through parts of the country.
On Aug. 11, however, the TMO issued a statement warning investors not to store wheat so they could sell it at a much higher price later on. The office said it has 1.25 million tons of wheat in its own stockpile, while another 700,000 left over from last year are in private storage. “Combined with this year’s expected domestic production of 19 million tons, the total amount of wheat we have is 21 million tons, which exceeds annual domestic demand by 3 million tons,” the recent TMO statement read.
In response to a question over minor increases in the market price of wheat, seen by some as confirmation of investors’ expectations, Konya Trade Bourse (KTB) President Muhammed Uğur Kaleli told the Anatolia news agency that the TMO can “easily” control the market price given its stockpile.
