The Turkish beet sugar sector is about 5.2 billion Turkish Lira (TL), or US$ 2.47 billion (2.1TL/$1). There are 33 factories belonging to 7 companies operating in the beet sugar sector with a total annual capacity of 3.1 million MMT.
Sugar production is regulated by a public institute called the Turkish Sugar Board, which announces and allocates annual production quotas to the existing producers, as per the Sugar Law of 2001. The Turkish Sugar Board has drafted a revision to the Law to expand regulations to stevia or high density sugar varieties, but has not yet been approved by Parliament.
In 2013, climate conditions were favorable for sugar beets and led to a higher polarity rate (amount of sugar obtained from sugar beets) compared to previous year. The average polarity rate throughout Turkey was 17.5 per cent in marketing year (MY) 2013/2014, compared to 17.4 per cent in MY 2012/2013. The national average sugar beet yield has also increased to 56.7 tons per hectare, but the rates in the Konya region and Central Anatolia (the center of Turkish sugar beet production) yield reached 80–85 tons per hectare.
As farmers become more familiar with modern agriculture techniques and are using better quality seeds, the yields are increasing and so are farmers’ incomes. Sugar beet farmers earned an average of 2000 TL per hectare. Sugar is sold for 123 TL in 50 kilogram (Kg) bags, and cube sugar is sold in 20 Kg packs for 63 TL. (US$1= 2.1 TL as of 3 April 2014)
In MY 2014/2015, post expects the area planted to increase to 315,000 hectares. Sugar beet production is expected to decrease slightly to 16.43 MMT due to dry weather conditions. As a result, total sugar production is expected to remain the same at 2.3 MMT. Starch based sugar (SBS) production is expected to increase as a result of the increased quotas. However, the price of corn is expected to increase due to drought, so SBS prices may climb higher than usual.
