The cut flower sector in Turkey is experiencing its most active days. There was an explosion of sales in cut flowers due to Valentine's Day.
Most of the cut flower production across the country is made in Antalya. Packaged flowers were sent to 22 countries, mainly Holland, England, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Flowers prepared for the last shipments were delivered by airplanes. There is an increase in exports compared to last year. However, Ismail Yilmaz, Chairman of the Board of Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters' Association, stated that this increase was not reflected in the prices. Ismail Yilmaz: "The industry had expectations for Valentine's Day, however, we could not meet our expectations in terms of price. The Netherlands has become the biggest market, not because it produces flowers, but because it buys and sells flowers from the world. If the Netherlands, a country that is as big in size as our city Konya, can export 100 billion USD of agricultural goods, it is unfortunately very sad that Turkey exports only 17 billion USD worth of agricultural goods. The production costs, which threaten agricultural production, are also the main problem of the cut flower sector: When the exchange value of USD increased from 7 to 8.5, our production costs increased by 30%. The exchange rate now fell back to around 7 Turkish liras, but the rise in production costs still remains intact. The high production costs pose a great threat for our industry. Perhaps, many places are closed now with the pandemic process, but when life returns to normal, this will increase imports. This situation can cause serious damage to Turkish agriculture in general and measures should be taken as soon as possible."
Source: Ulusal