Ahmet Güldal, General Manager of Turkish Grain Board (TMO), stated that half of the harvest season has been completed across the country.
Explaining that he visited Konya during the intense days of the purchasing campaign and made on-site inspections, Güldal said, “The year 2023 is fertile, with crops, TMO is experiencing the highest purchase period in its history. We can put more than 200 thousand tons of products in TMO warehouses in Turkey per day. When we look at Konya, it is approximately 50 thousand tons per day. We buy 1 out of 4 of Turkey’s total from Konya. There are 82 purchase points in Konya,” he said.
Emphasizing that a maximum of 110-120 thousand tons of daily purchases were made in the past years, Güldal said, “We made a record purchase of 212 thousand tons of products the previous day. TMO has taken 4 million 450 thousand tons of products throughout Turkey and put them in their warehouses since the beginning of the harvest. In addition, the producer’s 4 million 800 thousand tons of crops are defined in the appointment system for sale. 335 thousand producers have made an appointment for 4.8 million tons of product evaluation.”
“We think that around 10 million tons of product can come to TMO”
Stating that they are constantly expanding the appointment system, Güldal said:
“As we add our warehouses, determine our open pile areas, we create new appointments and expand our campaign. Of course, this extends to future dates and weeks, but there will never be a problem such as our warehouse is full or not being able to receive it. Our producer will be able to deliver their products. There is no need for them to worry at this point. We do not have to set a tonnage limit, but there are those who are waiting for an appointment with those delivered to us, and there are places where we can get an appointment, around 10 million, from which the harvest period will begin, and there will be places where we can get an appointment. “We have already determined and planned a storage capacity of 10 million tons. We have the ability to quickly increase this to 3 million tons more.”
“The buying pressure on TMO will be a little lighter”
Noting that the prices of grains in the markets have been on the rise for the last week, Güldal said, “Now, traders, traders and industrialists have started to buy products from the stock markets and producers intensively. This process will increase in the coming days. I think that the purchasing pressure on TMO will be alleviated by a little more private sector purchases.”
Güldal stated that they have been working without a weekend holiday since the second day of the Eid al-Adha, and said, “The TMO personnel are making purchases in the field with a very serious performance. They perform with a daily work of 14-15 hours. We make an effort to ensure that our manufacturer’s products are rewarded and bought.”
