Short-term tariff easing in Turkey supported corn exports from Ukraine

The quota for 500 thousand tons of duty-free corn imports contributed to the increase in prices on the CIF Marmara basis, even despite the limited validity period – until July 31.

Against the background of the introduction of a duty-free corn import quota of 500 thousand tons by Turkey, the Ukrainian market received some price support. ASAP Agri reports.

Sales on the CIF Marmara basis reached $263 per ton in “burner” format, which is $7 higher than ten days ago.

The quota was introduced by a decree of the President of Turkey, published in the Official Gazette. It will last only until July 31, while the usual import duty on corn in the country is 130%.

Despite the surprise of the announcement, more than half of the quota had already been sold before the official publication, said Koray Tuysüzoğlu of Erser Group. According to him, the decision on the quota came on the eve of the start of the new harvest: the first threshing is expected in early August in the Çukurova region, which provides more than a fifth of all Turkish corn production. The main campaign will start in mid-September, and the second harvest in November.

Meanwhile, domestic prices in Turkey have decreased slightly after the announcement of the quota. In particular, on the Konya stock exchange, quotes fell to $286.8 per ton compared to $288.4 the previous Friday.

According to the July WASDE report, Turkey will harvest 7.9 million tons of corn in the 2025/26 season – 800 thousand tons more than last year. At the same time, imports will decrease to 2.8 million tons, compared to 4.7 million in the previous season. Demand from the starch industry is estimated at 1–2 million tons, depending on the dynamics of exports of high value-added products.

However, as USM wrote the day before, the US Department of Agriculture has lowered its forecast for the harvest and exports of Ukrainian wheat.