Turkish firms Çalkan Grup and Banvit brought the first batch of Turkish chicken to be sold in Russia, while CP Group symbolically exported 23 tons to the country over the weekend.
However, the end of an almost decade-long import ban did not create the expected enthusiasm among Turkish entrepreneurs because of the much lower quotas they faced in the Russian market. Combined with the lack of government subsidies for chicken exports, which has resulted in Turkey’s inability to compete with foreign companies in prices, the quota confusion drove firms to conclude that the Russian market is not offering many opportunities at the moment.
Responding to speculations that the quota was 500,000 tons annually, Çalkan Grup Chairman Mustafa Çalkan said this number is not correct and that quotas of around 50,000-60,000 tons was what they had been told in talks with Russian authorities. “Rather than providing a specific quota for Turkey, Russian officials included our country in a 150,000 ton quota to be supplied by 18 countries in total. If we had competitive prices, this volume could be supplied Turkey alone, but the price of Turkish chicken is expensive now,” he explained.
However, following a meeting with Russian authorities in İstanbul, Çağlayan announced that Turkey was given a quota of 500,000 tons alone and that the removal of the Russian chicken imports ban would greatly help Turkish white meat exporters.
“American chicken sells in Russian markets at $1,500 a ton, whereas in the domestic Russian market the price was $2,000 two to three months ago. The price of the chicken brought from Turkey, on the other hand, combined with the cost of transportation and customs, is as high as $2,800. It is not possible to compete given this situation,” he said, adding that the government should intervene with incentives. “Brazil subsidizes $500 for each ton exported and European countries give 200 euros,” Çalkan explained. Russia will decide on new five-year regulations for the chicken market in 2012 and it plans to lift all quotas by 2015, he added.
