The decreasing value of the Turkish currency resulted in a dramatic increase in imported product prices in the country. Rose, one of the main imported items in floriculture, has been impacted significantly by this increase and now rose prices are quite more expensive compared to previous years.
As a result, local rose growers are preparing to increase their production by 30 – 40 % to fulfil the local market demand. Yalova is one of the most important production regions in Turkey in cut flowers and ornamental plants and the growers in the area are preparing for increased production capacity.
Korukoy Agricultural Development Cooperative Chairman Mustafa Kanar: “Importing roses is becoming less and less viable and feasible in these market conditions. We need to use this opportunity to increase our production and meet the demand in the market. There are around 400 rose growers in the area and the increasing demand is making our growers happy.
Most of the florists do not buy imported roses anymore because of the prices and they prefer local products. Our products are not lacking in quality compared to imported roses and if there is demand, we can always increase production.“
Rose grower Oktay Akgun: “There is more demand for our roses right now, we are very hopeful of the upcoming March – June 2019 season and in my company I have upped my production by 20 to 25 %. A lot of the firms which used to import roses from abroad are now ordering from us. We believe 2019 will be much profitable for us and for all the other growers in the region.”
Melike Isik, a sales responsible for a rose grower in the area, “We are preparing our production so we can satisfy local orders and demand. We are already meeting with local companies to agree on commercial deals for the upcoming season.”
Another grower Omer Salman: “We will increase our production by 40% due to increasing demand, a lot of wholesalers are now in touch with us to place orders. They have informed us that they will stop with the purchase of imported roses for a period now.
The fact that Turkey is importing roses is one of the main indicators of the Turkish economy’s problem with current account deficit. In 2015, 3 million USD worth of roses were imported whereas this number increased to 5 million USD in 2017. According to the 2015 data, Turkey imported roses mostly from Netherlands with 2.6 million stems followed by Kenya with 2.3 million stems and Turkmenistan with 1 million stems. Cut flowers are the second most important export item in Kenya and in terms of import value in Turkey in cut flowers, they are at the top. Netherlands is earning 3.8 billion USD annually just from flower and plant exports. Colombia is exporting products worth 1.4 billion USD. On the other hand Turkey, despite all of its potential and beneficial geographical location to many export destinations such as Russia, Middle East and Europe, exports only 35 million USD worth of flowers.