Trade Mission to Turkey and Egypt: CEO’s notes
People do business with people they trust. It doesn’t matter if it’s a farmer in Colby buying fertilizer or a poultry producer in Cairo buying soybean meal. Price matters. Quality matters. Logistics matters. But most important of all, trust matters. That was the objective of eight Kansas farmers who recently visited Turkey and Egypt on a Kansas Soybean Commission-led trade and learning mission to a top destination for U.S. soybeans.
Soy is the number one food and agriculture export for the U.S. In marketing year 2024/2025, U.S. soy exported 68.7 million metric tons, valued at $29.6 billion. The Middle East and North Africa region, with a population exceeding 450 million people, represents a dynamic and evolving market for U.S. soy. Characterized by rapid urbanization, growing populations and increased demand for animal protein, the region provides significant opportunities for soy imports and processing. Countries like Egypt are leading the way, driving soy consumption through their robust poultry, aquaculture and dairy industries.
While Turkey is the 14th largest aggregate market for U.S. soy products, they are the 10th largest whole bean destination, with opportunities for growth. They currently boast the seventh-largest feed production industry in the world and their production of poultry, eggs, fish, dairy and beef are well positioned to fill domestic consumption and export to the Middle East and Europe.
While in Turkey, representatives from the Kansas Soybean Commission, Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas State University’s International Grains Program Institute met with soybean buyers and processors from Cargill, ADM, Bunge, the Anderson’s, the Aves Company and others. They also toured the HasTavuk feed mill and poultry processing facility in Bursa City. HasTavuk is one of the largest poultry producers in the country, consuming 6 million tons of feed per year in their own locations and selling additional volumes on the open market. The one poultry facility the Kansas team visited processes a whopping 220,000 chickens per day, six days a week!
Turkey is a great opportunity for U.S. soybean demand growth as the U.S. holds a relatively low percentage of market share currently, primarily due to logistics. They like the quality of U.S. soy, but agriculture products from around the world are easily accessible through the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. Transit from the U.S. Gulf may take 20-25 days compared to 3-5 for a shipment from the Black Sea – and time is money.
Egypt, however, is a different story. Their 3.3 million metric tons of imports last year, on its way to an estimated 5 million metric tons this year, make them the fourth largest market for U.S. soy. And the message was crystal clear at every stop: this market prefers U.S. soybeans.
Cairo’s 26 million people rank as the seventh largest city in the world and they demand protein. They get that protein primarily from poultry, eggs, and aquaculture. Egypt’s poultry industry continues to integrate and grow at 5% per year for nearly a decade. The delegation led with a visit to the Cairo Poultry Company who produce more than 300,000 tons of feed and maintains processing capacity for 72 million birds a year at their two production plants. Forty-two broiler farms and more than 4,000 employees keep the operation humming.
Next was a visit to Borg Al Arab Industry, the first soybean processing plant in operation in Egypt. Their 400 metric ton a day processing capacity is fed by 90% U.S. soybeans thanks to a consistent quality and a preferred amino acid profile.
A meeting with the Egyptian Poultry Association highlighted industry trainings led by the U.S. Soybean Export Council and the IGP Institute. Thousands of early career Egyptian feed millers, poultry, and aquaculture producer staff have gone through trainings since 2019, supported in part by soybean checkoff dollars.
Another highlight was a two-plus hour visit with the President and CEO of Wadi Group, the largest egg-producing company on the African continent, operating with a flock of 10 million hens. Additional meetings included Egyptian soybean processors, commodity traders, fish feed companies, fish producers, and other stakeholders.
U.S. Foreign Ag Service representative Christopher Riker said it best when reflecting on the Egyptian market and why US farmers were more than 6,000 miles from home on the ten-day mission:
“The effort the soybean industry puts into maintaining this market is an example we use with other ag groups every day. This is how it’s supposed to be done. The customers here REALLY take notice that US farmers are here, and those relationships lead to a real preference for US soy.”
Story by Kaleb Little, Kansas Soybean CEO and administrator
