Turkey's cut flower exports gain pace abroad, slow domestically

The southern city of Antalya keeps making its mark on Turkey’s exports with its contributions to the cut flower trade.

Officials agree that while the overall export figures have decreased due to the global crisis, the increase in cut flower exports is striking. However, the decrease in domestic market sales has reached 25 percent.

Osman Bağdatlıoğlu, chairman of the Antalya Exporters Unions, said the organization targets cut flower export figures of $50 million by year-end, in an interview with Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

“In an environment where the crisis has hit the world economies leading to a serious decrease in exports for many countries, Turkey has managed to increase its cut flower exports by 10 percent in the first 10 months of the year,” Bağdatlıoğlu said.

Cut flower exports since Jan. 1 stand at $35 million. The target for this year is adding $15 million to this figure.

“Developments in bilateral trade relations, participation in international fairs and good publicity abroad will help Turkey’s cut flower sector to rise to its potential and find a sound place in new markets,” he said.

While Turkey’s cut flower sector has achieved substantial growth in international markets, the situation of the domestic market does not look that encouraging.

Profit margins have shrunk, sales have almost hit bottom and many florists say they are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Mustafa Çelik, one of the partners of Kırmızıgül Çiçekçilik in Antalya, told the Daily News that the contraction in the domestic market has reached 25 percent since the start of the crisis.

“Worse still, the sector does not expect any growth for the rest of the year since autumn months are normally ‘dead months’ for sales, even when there is no crisis,” Çelik said.

Highlighting that the sector has been given no financial support, Çelik said that if the authorities leave the sector to its fate, floriculture would come to an end.

Agreeing with Çelik, Ali Kurtaran, owner of Kurtaran Çiçekçilik, said the discrepancy between domestic sales and exports stems from the difference in the customer perception of cut flowers. “While they are seen as a basic need abroad, they are still a luxury in Turkey. People buy flowers just on special days here and this is not enough to boost sales.”

Turkey, which owns an important pie of the world cut flower sector, is attending the Cut Flower Sector Trading Program in Ukraine held by the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade and Antalya Exporters Unions from Nov. 2-5.

The aim of the program is to advertise the sector on investment opportunities on an international platform.