Electoral anxiety arose from the sharp drop in the production of white meat

While the citizens could not eat white meat after red meat due to the price level, the producer entered into a contraction in his production capacity because he did not see the way forward.

While the crisis in the livestock sector continued to reduce production of milk and milk products and increase retail prices, there was a more pronounced decline in production on the poultry meat side.

According to data announced today by TURKSTAT, chicken meat production decreased by 16.1 percent monthly and 19.7 percent annually in June, falling below 176,179 tons and registering the hardest sleep of the years. last 4 months.

The wing, which was sold at 40-50 TL per kilo last summer, is selling at 130-140 TL this summer.

While the number of chickens slaughtered decreased 16.5 percent monthly in June, the annual decrease reached 22.2 percent.

Turkey meat production decreased by 25.8% monthly and 30.2% annually.

According to the information we received from the Turkish Poultry Meat Producers Association, this decrease was due to increased production costs, as well as decreased consumption due to both increased prices and the inability of the tour operator. to reach the desired occupancy rates.

Another prominent reason, according to industry representatives, is the anxiety generated by the uncertainty about the new government and economic policies before the elections, both for producers and exporters.

‘ELECTION UNCERTAINTY CREATED PRODUCTION CAPACITY’

Turgutlu Ahmetli Poultry Meat Producers Union Chairman Mazlum Öztürk said integrated facilities across the country could not see their way due to the uncertainty created by the elections, and began to reduce their production capacity to starting in March.

Öztürk said: “The contraction in production became apparent in April. Production data for June, announced today by TUIK, reveals the decline in the capacity utilization rate in May.

Looking at the month of April, pointed out by Öztürk, based on TUIK production data, you see that chicken meat production decreased by 9.4 percent and the number of chickens slaughtered decreased by 12.7% in April on an annual basis.

Öztürk also pointed out that due to the uncertainty created by the elections in all sectors, there are also concerns in the markets where Turkey is an exporter:

“As buyers of our products decreased their demands, exports decreased. This was another point that supported reducing capacity.”

It was also reported that the Ministry of Commerce added poultry meat and edible offal to the list of goods subject to registration in early May, in this development of exports.

DECREASE IN CITIZEN CONSUMPTION AND TOURISM ALSO AFFECTED

An official from Turkey’s Poultry Meat Producers Association said that almost all the inputs required for the production of white meat are imported, and that the increase in costs due to the increase in the exchange rate was also effective in lowering prices. the production.

Pointing out that another important reason is the contraction in consumption, the official said that “families could not buy chicken at the butcher shop or in the market. All chicken prices increased from 30 lira to 70 lira in one year. The price increase on some products, such as wings, reached 200 percent,” he said, continuing as follows:

“In tourism, the desired occupancy rate could not be reached. Although those who entered and left the hotels did not eat outside, they did demand those that were sold in the open buffets inside the hotel, and the drop in consumption was accentuated when there was a contraction here”.

INCREASED PRICES REDUCES SALES BY 55 PERCENT

Speaking to sozcu.com.tr last week, the president of the Turkish Butchers Farmers Meat and Meat Products Federation, Osman Yardimci, stated that the prices of barbecue products increased by more than 200 percent this summer. compared with the previous summer, with the effect of increasing meat and poultry. prices and sales were at least 30 percent. He said it was down -40 percent.

Aydın Tüfekçi, Chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Retailers, Butchers and Craftsmen, said the rate of decline in sales in Istanbul reached 55 percent.

THE NUMBER OF MANUFACTURERS ALSO DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY

On the other hand, the growing wave of concordats in 2019 also hit the poultry industry; The giant companies, which had production in 18 integrated facilities across the country, began to declare a concordat one by one.

In November 2018 alone, 470 out of 1,465 manufacturers in the Sakarya-Kocaeli region; 400 of the 3,000 companies in the Aegean Region could not bear the rising costs and stopped their production.

At this point, the number of integrated facilities has risen from 18 to 15, along with companies that have withdrawn from production; It is claimed that the number of manufacturers decreased from 17 thousand to 12 thousand.