Turkey's first private feed manufacturer Abalıoğlu Agricultural Production Co., celebrated its 50th anniversary. Ulaş Semerci, general manager of the company, pointed out that 60-70% of ingredients used in compound feed production is imported and domestic ingredients are insufficient.

Agricultural Production Co., which took the road as "Turkey's first private feed producer" starting from Denizli in 1969, held the 14th National Business Partners Meeting in Antalya where the developments of 2018 were evaluated. In the meeting where 2018 was evaluated, developments in the sector and 2019 year-end targets were announced, seniority and success awards were also presented to the business partners. Ali Ekber Yildirim a journalist focusing on agriculture and husbandry also joined the two-day meeting. In the opening speech of the meeting, Ulaş Semerci, General Manager of Abalıoğlu Tarım Üretim A.Ş pointed out that 60-70% of imported feed production is used in mixed feed production and domestic raw materials are insufficient. “Due to the insufficiency of domestic resources, our sector, which imports more than half of the raw material needs, has left behind a year in which raw material and product price increases were experienced due to exchange rate fluctuations. In the year 2018, the yield of grains and other crops decreased by 4.2% compared to the previous year. In addition, the sharp fluctuation in exchange rates, particularly since August 2018, led to increases in the prices of compound feed products. Despite the challenging conditions, the compound feed sector grew by 8% in 2018 compared to 2017 and reached a market size of 24.2 million tons,” Semerci said.