Corn in the field, AKP pursues imports

While domestic corn producers are counting down the days to harvest, the government has issued another decision that has delighted import lobbies. 500,000 tons of corn imports, which will begin on July 15, 2025, will be allowed with zero customs duty instead of the 130% customs duty until July 31, 2025. The Presidential Decree on the subject was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. Import quotas of 1 million tons of corn were previously opened for October 2024, March 2025, and May 2025. With the latest import permit, a total of 3.5 million tons of corn imports have been permitted since October 2024.

While $862,479,000 was paid for corn imports throughout 2024, the 2025 harvest season will see record corn imports. A total of $617,899,000 was paid for 2,512,000 tons of corn imports in the first five months of 2025.

TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) calculated the sufficiency level for corn, a key input for the feed industry, used as a starch-based sugar (SBS) and industrial raw material, as 96.5 percent in 2024. However, decisions regarding duty-free imports during the harvest season will inevitably lead to the seizure of producers' labor by traders and feed and SBS companies.

WHO DOES THE TRADE?

The corn trade is largely controlled by monopolies. Four American companies account for a large portion of the global corn trade: Archer, Bunch, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus. Türkiye's feed industry uses 88.5 percent of the corn produced. Of these companies, Cargill dominates the Turkish market.

Mutlu Doğru, President of the Adana Farmers' Association, emphasized that several questions need to be answered to understand the duty-free import permits granted before the harvest. Doğru noted that the harvest in Adana will begin in early August and listed the following questions:

1- Will the corn imported with zero customs until the end of this month be depleted by the time the domestic harvest begins at the beginning of next month and will there be a demand for domestic corn?

2- If warehouses are filled with imported corn just before the domestic harvest, won't prices drop?

3- If a 500,000 ton import corn quota is opened in Turkey for 15 days, will our annual corn need be 12 million tonnes?

4- If feed prices do not decrease in the feed industry, which is the largest user of corn, despite importing cheap corn with zero customs, who imports this cheap corn and what is its use?

5- If the starch industry imports, how and where are the glucose and fructose produced sold despite the reduced SBS quota?

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3.5 MILLION TONS OF PERMITS IN 10 MONTHS

• From October 10, 2024 to December 31, 2024, 1 million tons of corn imports were allowed with a 5 percent customs duty.

• Import of 1 million tons of corn was allowed with 5 percent customs duty from March 19, 2025 to June 30, 2025.

• An import permit was issued for 1 million tons of corn, this time with zero customs, from May 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025.

• 500 thousand tons of corn will be imported with zero customs between July 15, 2025 and July 31, 2025.