ANKARA, TURKEY — Turkey has become a major hub for transshipped agricultural products such as oilseeds, grains and pulses over the past decade, reaping the fruits of investments in domestic port infrastructure and deeper participation in regional and global trade systems, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Markets in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa have benefited as destinations from Turkey’s rising transshipment role, the FAS said. In 2022, the value of transshipped agricultural products doubled from just a few years earlier to an estimated record of $4 billion and is expected to grow substantially in coming years, though it dipped slightly to $3.8 billion in 2023.

Based on FAS analysis, the top five transshipped products by value and volume last year were oilseeds, grains, pulses, tree nuts and juice. These transshipped products originated from a variety of countries, some relatively close in proximity like Ukraine and Russia, and others farther away such as the United States and Argentina.

“In the last couple years, with the war in Ukraine and uncertainty in the Black Sea, Turkey has become an even more important transshipment hub for oilseeds and grains from both Russia and Ukraine,” the FAS said. “Recent troubles in the Red Sea have also reinforced Turkey as a center for handling transshipped cargoes going to the Middle East and Africa.”

Over the past 10 years, the volume of transshipments has grown with the expansion in Turkey’s logistical infrastructure and increased Black Sea capacity to export grains and oilseeds. From 2013-23, transshipments of these bulk commodities increased five times from about 500,000 tonnes to 2.5 million tonnes, the FAS said.