August 16, 2016

Turkey is set to import 5 tonnes of frozen carcass meat from the EU in an effort to thwart price spikes.

The state-owned Meat and Milk Enterprise (ESK) said, "A tender will be carried out on Aug. 23 in Ankara by the ESK for 5 tonnes of fresh frozen carcass meat".

A rise in food prices, particularly red meat, was seen as a major contributor to Turkey's inflation rate, which rose to 8.79% in July from the previous month's 7.64%.

Turkey imported meat starting in 2010 as demand outpaced production.

Today Turkey needs over 1.3 million tonnes of red meat annually, and the shortage runs to 200,000 tonnes a year.

Over the last eight years, per capita beef consumption has increased to 14 kilogrammes from just 4.4, even as poultry meat consumption has also grown.

Beef prices in Turkey have increased three-folds to $12 per kilogramme since 2009, according to a report on worldbulletin.net.