Thanks to the strong cooperation it has established with its main shareholder, Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, GÜBRETAŞ continues to support farmers by offering all kinds of fertilizers needed by farmers at high quality and affordable prices, especially during the Covid-19 epidemic, while also strengthening its leadership in the market.

GÜBRETAŞ, which alone met one-third of the chemical fertilizer consumption in our country with record sales of over 2 million tons in 2020, continues its products and services to increase agricultural productivity in line with its founding mission, at an increasing pace.

GÜBRETAŞ, which started 2021 with new targets, continues its leading role in overcoming the supply and supply problems in the sector caused by commodity and raw material price increases in the international fertilizer market. In this context, aiming to ensure price stability in the sector, GÜBRETAŞ carries out its operational activities as planned by mobilizing all its capabilities in the field of production and supply in order to meet the fertilizer demands of farmers.

Pointing out that the company's primary mission is to ensure efficiency and sustainability in agricultural production, GÜBRETAŞ General Manager İbrahim Yumaklı made some evaluations about the current developments in the sector.

General Manager Yumaklı stated that considering the average of the last 5 years, around 6 million tons of fertilizer is consumed annually in our country and said, "There are three basic raw materials in the chemical fertilizer industry; nitrogen, potassium and phosphate... Unfortunately, since these basic underground resources related to the sector are not available in our country, they are largely met by imports from abroad. Considering that Turkey has only a 1.5% share in the world's fertilizer consumption and that we meet approximately 90% of the raw material needs of these fertilizers from abroad, it can be seen that the sector is shaped according to the supply and prices in international markets. "Moreover, delivering these products, which we import from abroad with foreign currency, to the producers in TL in the domestic market may bring financial risks related to exchange rates as well as fluctuations in raw material prices," he said.

Pointing out that GÜBRETAŞ always gives priority to ensuring product availability for the sustainability of agricultural production, General Manager Yumaklı said, “Plant nutrition products are one of the most basic inputs to maintain agricultural production in a way to obtain maximum efficiency from the unit area and to ensure the food supply security of the country's population. According to research, fertilizer, which has a share of around 15-20% in agricultural input costs, has an important place all over the world as it contributes around 50% to the increase in agricultural productivity. Our company, which leads the sector with its market share, alone meets more than 30% of the fertilizer need in agricultural production. "This success is a result of our top priority principle being to maintain uninterrupted fertilizer supply, in addition to the quality products and services we provide to farmers," he said.

INTERNATIONAL PRICE INCREASES AND RESTRICTIONS DUE TO THE PANDEMIC

Emphasizing that fertilizer prices are not only determined by domestic exchange rate movements, but also largely shaped by fertilizer raw material prices in international markets, global supply-demand opportunities and the effects of the global epidemic in the last year, Yumaklı said, "Due to the global Covid-19 epidemic that started last year, fertilizer raw material prices have increased. There is also an upward trend. "We are taking the necessary actions against this in the production, supply and shipment processes," he said.

Pointing out that chemical fertilizer prices in international markets have increased by more than 60% on average and freight-transportation costs by more than 50% due to the coronavirus epidemic, İbrahim Yumaklı said, "However, some countries that produce fertilizer raw materials have prioritized their own domestic markets and imposed restrictions on exports. There are problems in fertilizer supply throughout the country. For example, some of the pre-season connections made in urea fertilizer have been canceled by these global producers. Despite this, as a company, we fulfill our promise to supply fertilizer to our farmers by using alternative solution methods in our production planning and supply plans we made months ago, with the responsibility of industry leadership. "We have made the farmer's job easier by offering special products developed with our R&D experience as replacement products for some classical products that have supply shortages," he said.

EXAMPLE APPLICATION IN THE SECTOR WITH GÜBRETAŞ – TARIM KREDİ COOPERATION

Stating that the main shareholder of GÜBRETAŞ is Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, Turkey's largest farmer organization, İbrahim Yumaklı said, "75% of GÜBRETAŞ's shares belong to Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, and the remaining 25% is traded on Borsa Istanbul. In this respect, we see ourselves as a 100% people's company and we work with greater effort to fulfill this responsibility. GÜBRETAŞ, which carries out its activities in accordance with the commercial and capital market laws, is responsible for its profits and losses to its partners as a joint stock company. In addition, GÜBRETAŞ has an important role in this field as it is Tarım Kredi's company in the field of plant nutrition. "GÜBRETAŞ, which is the sole supplier of chemical fertilizers to Agricultural Credit Cooperatives with its main dealership agreement that has been ongoing since 2001, contributes to the sustainability of agricultural production in terms of guaranteeing product availability in the sector, maintaining supply management for the whole year, and balancing the sector with price competition in favor of farmers within the framework of this strategic cooperation." he said.

Stating that the cooperation between Tarım Kredi and GÜBRETAŞ is an application that will set an example for the sector in terms of supply planning, Yumaklı pointed out that otherwise it would not be operationally possible to meet the chemical fertilizer needs of the farmers in such a high volume product on time. Reminding that thanks to this operational planning, GÜBRETAŞ managed to increase its sales, which have been increasing steadily in recent years, to over 2 million tons last year, İbrahim Yumaklı said, "Another point that should be emphasized regarding product availability is that Tarım Kredi and GÜBRETAŞ provide agricultural products to every point of agriculture in 81 provinces of Turkey." is to distribute. GÜBRETAŞ provides services to producers at 2,750 sales points, 1,850 of which are Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, with more than 120 types of fertilizers, including its own plant-specific products that provide high productivity increases. "It is not possible for other cooperatives and unions to fully meet all the demands of producers because they operate regionally or periodically," he said.

SUPPLY PLANNING FOR SPRING FERTILIZER DEMAND STARTED LAST AUTUMN

Stating that the consumption of chemical fertilizers at certain times of the year makes it necessary to supply orders before the season, İbrahim Yumaklı said, “Many raw materials and commodities that we use as input in chemical fertilizer production are brought from abroad to different logistics bases in our country by sea transportation. Here we are talking about a product amount expressed in millions of tons. "As GÜBRETAŞ, we continue to deliver these various products, which are mostly brought from abroad and sometimes produced in our country, to more than 5 thousand points within the country, with around 80 thousand truck movements per year, before their usage period," he said.

General Manager Yumaklı summarized the preparation processes for product supply with the following words: "GÜBRETAŞ's approach to procurement; Our aim is to supply and produce the highest quality product at the most affordable price, domestically or abroad, and deliver it to farmers. Another priority of GÜBRETAŞ is to ensure that the resources remain domestic by procuring products and raw materials other than its production from domestic companies as much as possible and market conditions allow. In order to avoid any disruptions, we have to make production and supply plans months in advance and deliver fertilizer orders in season. We started the supply planning of fertilizers to be used in agriculture in the spring of 2021 in the autumn of 2020, in line with the demand and shipment projections from Agricultural Credit Cooperatives. Tarım Kredi reports chemical fertilizer orders to GÜBRETAŞ twice a year on the basis of cooperative, product and month. GÜBRETAŞ makes supply, production and logistics plans months before the start of the season, based on Agricultural Credit orders as well as estimated fertilizer demands from dealers and other customers in proportion to its market share.”

Regarding the change in fertilizer prices, "While products and raw materials are supplied a few months in advance, not only the price movements of that day, but also periodic economic developments, forecasts for the relevant season in the agriculture and fertilizer sector, the price average of the products for many years, stocking costs, financing expenses, etc. Many issues are evaluated and the purchasing decision is made,” said İbrahim Yumaklı, adding that as GÜBRETAŞ, they also use alternative supply methods to provide fertilizer to farmers at the most affordable prices. Yumaklı said, “From time to time, there is a form of procurement in the sector that is described as opportunity purchasing. "GÜBRETAŞ continues its efforts to offer products to farmers at more affordable prices uninterruptedly throughout the 12 months of the year by making opportunity purchases when the conditions are suitable and minimizing the blending costs," he said.

Yumaklı stated that, thanks to the cooperation of Tarım Kredi and GÜBRETAŞ during this difficult period, farmers were able to obtain the chemical fertilizers they needed in 2020 at an affordable price and on time, despite the global epidemic, and that in the 2021 spring season, Agricultural Credit Cooperatives continued to supply products to their partners at the most affordable price in the market. .

GÜBRETAŞ'S QUALITY PERCEPTION AMONG FARMERS INCREASES DEMAND

Stating that GÜBRETAŞ is a brand that gives confidence to farmers with its free agricultural consultancy services as well as quality plant nutrition products that increase productivity, Yumaklı said, "Currently, GÜBRETAŞ is the only company in the sector that has an accredited laboratory. Our company has been setting an example in terms of quality in the sector for many years in terms of quality standards such as guaranteed complete plant nutritional content and the absence of substances harmful to human health. All these efforts we have made to ensure and maintain quality standards have ensured that our brand is remembered with quality and trust among farmers. "We express at every opportunity that productivity, abundance and abundance in agriculture depends on using quality fertilizer correctly," he said.