Trade deficit on fertilizers grows big

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit on fertilizer imports has grown $6.1 billion in five years, revealing Turkey’s dependence on raw material imports.

According to Turkish Statistical Institution (TÜİK) data, Turkey imported $7.95 billion worth of fertilizers but exported just $923.3 million between 2007 and October 2012.

The yearly deficit reached its highest point, $1.481 billion, in 2008.

“Since there is not enough raw materials for chemical fertilizer in Turkey, almost 90 percent of the raw material is imported,” said Sebahattin Ebül, secretary-general of the Fertilizer Producers, Importers and Exporters Association.

Demand for taex cut

However, despite the dependence on imports for raw materials, Ebül praised Turkish producers’ leap forward in organic fertilizer production by transforming every potential material into organic fertilizer.
Additionally, he complained about the 18 percent tax on fertilizers and suggested reducing the tax to 8 percent, the level applied on seeds and agricultural pesticides, in addition to easing registration and licensing procedures.