Cotton Supply And Use Projection In Turkey

Turkey’s rapid economic growth and structural transition (such as migration from rural to urban, education level, etc.) have brought about significant changes in production and consumption patterns and trade behavior in its fiber sectors. Turkey’s earning from export is heavily depending upon the export of textile and apparel sectors (T&A). An average annual earning from T&A was U.S. $ 9 billion during the 1995-97 period. The share of the T&A in total export earning was 38 percent during the same period (SIS, 1998). While Turkey’s annual average cotton fiber consumption was 314 thousand metric tons (tmt) during the 1980-82 periods, it has increased tremendously and reached 1047 tmt during the 1996-98 periods. With increased domestic consumption and rapid growth in textile and in apparel export, Turkey has changed from a net cotton exporter to a net cotton importer since 1991.? Turkey’s annual average net imports of cotton reached 253 tmt during the 1996-98 periods (the Institute, 1998). All of the results indicate that Turkey is expected to play an increasingly important role in the world cotton market due to its rapid growth of T&A sector’s export