Dried apricot licensed warehousing was signed.

MALATYA (İHA) - Signatures were signed for the licensed warehousing of dried apricots, which is closely related to apricot producers, in Malatya, the world apricot capital.
In the traditional iftar program organized by Malatya Commodity Exchange, the first step was taken in Dried Apricot Licensed Warehousing. With the ceremony held after iftar, a protocol was signed for the loan needed for Malatya Commodity Exchange Dried Apricot Licensed Warehousing.
The Ministry of Development gave 12 million TL for the Malatya Commodity Exchange Dried Apricot Licensed Warehousing with a total investment value of 18 million 600 thousand TL, while the remaining 6 million 800 thousand TL was given to the Turkish Grain Board and TOBB joint venture LİDAŞ A.Ş. will be borne by
Customs and Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkci, Malatya Governor Ali Kaban, Metropolitan Mayor Hacı Uğur Polat, AK Party Deputy Öznur Çalık, TESK Chairman Bendevi Palandöken, TOBB President Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Turkish Grain Board General Manager İsmail Kımıloğlu, LİDAŞ A.Ş. . Chairman of the Board of Directors Yahya Toptan, Chairman of Malatya Commodity Exchange Ramazan Özcan, TSO Chairman Oğuzhan Sadıkoğlu and guests attended.
Speaking before the signing protocol, Malatya Commodity Exchange President Ramazan Özcan thanked everyone who contributed to the realization of the project and said that Malatya Commodity Exchange was acting with the principle of being a respected institution within the framework of a modern stock market approach. Stating that Malatya Commodity Exchange is preparing for 2023 with its 2017-2020 strategic plan, Özcan said, “In this context, it aims to become a product exchange with a sales hall, accredited laboratory and licensed warehousing. Our primary and primary goal is to become an international commodity exchange in Malatya, which meets 85% of the world's dried apricot production and exports it to all continents, in order to stabilize the apricot price with electronic stock trading. Our Exchange is a candidate to be the international meeting point of buyers and sellers in the supply of dried apricots to the market. Our Commodity Exchange, which strives for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in Malatya, carries out a very important mission such as the promotion, marketing and breeding of Turkey's strategic product apricot.” included his statements.
Minister of Customs and Trade Bülent Tüfenkci, who took the floor later in the program, stated that they know very well what apricot means for Malatya and said, “Sometimes we say provocatively, 'There is no addressee, no owner of apricot in Malatya' and some friends say that 'the owner of apricot is the owner of apricot'. We say that the owners of the apricots are the producers and farmers in Malatya. We will remove the barriers in front of their unions and cooperatives. We do not hold back from working just because apricot has no interlocutor. We carried out a special study for apricots to enter the licensed warehousing area”.
Tüfenkci stated that Turkey ranks first in the production of fresh and dried apricots in the world, adding that according to TUIK data, a total of 985 thousand tons of apricot production was achieved in Turkey in 2017 with an increase of 35 percent.
Stating that Malatya is the most important apricot production center, Tüfenkci said, “Production is of course important, but the main thing is to be able to sell what you produce. There is a saying that 'the product you sell is yours, not the product you produce'. Indeed, marketing and selling of apricots is very important for Malatya. Production and marketing are inseparable parts of each other. When we look at supply and demand, especially when we look at apricots, limit the supply point to 2 months, but we need to spread the demand to 12 months. Licensed warehousing is very important in this process. It is possible to use the stored product as a financial instrument in an ease that can be enjoyed by all our producers, including our producers who produce on a small scale in a modern way that will not cause production losses. “
Stating that they have implemented a storage system that enables the stored product to be used as a financial instrument, Tüfenkci said, “The system continues to develop and become widespread day by day. To date, we have granted establishment permission to a total of 123 companies as the Ministry of Customs and Trade. And in this sense, licensed warehousing, which we started with 20 thousand tons in 2011, has reached 1 million 838 thousand 200 tons today.

Tüfenkci stated that they included apricots in the scope of licensed warehousing in order to add value to the value of Malatya apricots and continued his speech as follows:
“If we want to bring the agricultural trade in Turkey, licensed warehousing is very important. We continue to increase the licensed warehousing capacity by working together with both our ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture. As the state, we will cover the rental fees of the unions and their manufacturers, including the transportation fee of the products placed in the licensed warehousing. We provide free storage of your products here. We, as the AK Party, do not only bring a licensed warehouse in apricots to Malatya, but we also provide licensed warehouse in terms of grains. We will achieve a turning point in apricots in Malatya, praise be to Allah"
Noting that the establishment of the Turkish Product Specialization Exchange will be completed next week, Minister Tüfenkci said, “Thus, the electronic securities you have purchased will be traded on the product specialization exchange. In other words, a lawyer or a doctor will invest in the products stored in this warehouse. Or, our merchants will have the chance to buy these products from there, and they will get rid of their own warehouse costs. Whenever he needs it, he will go from there and buy that product and the market will be supplied. I wish licensed warehousing to be beneficial for Malatya”
After the speeches, Malatya Commodity Exchange Dried Apricot Licensed Warehousing Protocol signature ceremony was held. At the ceremony, awards were given to the best exporting companies in 2017 by the protocol.