Sunflower Wars: Russia and Turkey

Recently, it was reported that Turkey will zero the import duty on sunflower seeds until June 30, 2021. This mechanism to support the domestic processing industry has long been used by many countries, but this year it is not so simple.

Historically, Turkey has been the largest buyer of sunflower seeds in the world market. In the context of a global decline in the oilseed crop, the Turkish authorities canceled duties much earlier than usual (in 2019 this happened in February). This measure is intended to provide the domestic processing industry with raw materials. It is worth recalling that Turkey has been actively engaged in the re-export of finished fat and oil products and the purchase of sunflower seeds for internal processing for several years now. In other words, the country buys seeds on the world market at a reduced rate, processes it at home, providing jobs, tax deductions and the development of processing, and then sells the finished product to other countries, receiving additional income from this.

Over the past three years, the import duty rate for sunflower seeds in Turkey has varied from 0 to 27% at different times. By contrast, the rate on sunflower oil is almost always at 36%, which once again proves Turkey's commitment to protecting the domestic processing industry.