Turkish floriculture overview
by Market Insider
Wednesday, 15 Jul. 2015
According to the Turkish Ministry of
Agriculture a total of 4,513 hectares of agriculture land was used for
floriculture production in 2013.It is divided into indoor and outdoor plants
(3,340 ha), cut flowers (1,083 ha) and bulbs (90 ha).
The majority
of the acreage is covered with plastic greenhouses; 90% of the indoor plants
acreage, 73% of the cut flowers acreage and 86% of the bulbs acreage.
Only 5% of the indoor flower acreage and 4% of the cut flower acreage are
covered with glass greenhouses. The remaining hectares consist of open field
production; 5% of indoor plants, 23% of cut flowers and 14% of the bulb
acreages.
The floriculture market is still relatively small. The
average expenditure on flowers and plants is around € 4 per capita per year.
People in North and Western European countries spend an average of € 50 to €
100 a year per person. Istanbul is one of the main markets in Turkey with
an annual expenditure of €15 pp.
The expectation is that economic
growth and rising incomes will lead to increase in the floriculture spending in
Turkey.
The consumption of indoor and outdoor plants and cut flowers is growing
annually by about 20 percent. Because of the growth of the tourism industry as
customers and also the arrival of large retailers, flowers and plants are able
to be offered for attractive prices and the demand of horticulture products
increased.
For example: in the past orchid was a luxurious gift, but
nowadays it has become a much more common one. About 25,000 workers are working
directly in the floriculture and about 300,000 workers indirectly. The sector
is regarded as a major source of income in rural areas and is essential for
poverty reduction. The export value of floriculture products has grown over the
past five years from US$56 million in 2010 to over US$83 million in 2014.
Turkey currently exports to about 55 countries.
Since 2001, Turkey
has managed to achieve average export growth of 20% per year. Especially
carnation and gerbera are important export products.
Turkey is not
only a floricultural products export country, but also an importing country.
The import value of floriculture products has grown over the past five years
from $50 million in 2010 to over US$ 93 million in 2014.
Based on
trade data from 2014 it can be concluded that within the horticultural industry
the Netherlands is the main floriculture import partner of Turkey (US$ 8.4
million).
Turkey imports the raw materials usually from abroad.
However, there is an import quota for flowers and more import is hampered by
import tariffs which Turkey uses to protect local producers, this could rise to
almost 50% for cut flowers.
Source: Agroberichten Buitenland