USSEC U S Soybean Export Council : Customer Opens Third Integrated Dairy Facility in Turkey

Sutas, a USSEC customer and Turkey's largest dairy producer, opened its third integrated dairy facility in Izmir, Turkey on December 23 with an investment of $20 million.

Sutas processes 480 tons of milk daily and produces 300,000 tons of dairy feed yearly. The company enjoys a 15 percent market share for milk in Turkey with gross sales in 2015 of 2.3 billion Turkish lira (TL) and 2.6 billion TL in 2016. They use soybean meal for their high-producing cows with a yearly consumption of about 15,000 tons of soybean meal and will increase consumption by 50 percent with the new facility because the facility is projected to help their business grow by 50 percent.

The investment in Sutas' new facilities is about $80 million U.S. dollars (USD) and they will process 1000 tons of milk and produce 600 tons per day of feed, along with 6.4 megawatts of electricity and 100 tons of organic fertilizer. Sutas is already collecting 2.2 million tons of milk with 8 percent of this amount is coming from their owned dairy farms and the rest collected from 28,000 farmers in different parts of Turkey.

The president, prime minister, minister of agriculture and many other government ministers attended the opening of the new facilities. Sutas executives present included Mr. Yilmaz, president; Mr. Tezel, vice president; and Mrs. Serpil Veral, CEO.

One of Sutas' main goals in this investment is to export its products to Russia. Russia was importing $5 billion worth of dairy products before the embargo from EU countries, but is now importing these products from Argentina and Brazil. Turkey is producing a large amount of dairy products that they currently export to Russia and Japan, but they will now be producing different types of dairy products giving them a greater opportunity in these markets.

Sutas also acquired dairy companies in Romania and Macedonia and invested $20 million USD in those companies to supply dairy products to the EU. Turkey is currently not allowed to export dairy products to the EU.

Sutas has been in the dairy business for three generations and celebrates its 41st year in the business this year. Their business model is 'from the grass to the farm' and they opened their first facility in Karacabey /Bursa in 2004 using this model. Since that time, they have invested $650 million USD in this business with 3 facilities. With the new facility, they are estimated to grow 50 percent in 2016.

Sutas is a very good partner to USSEC who regularly participates in USSEC's events in Turkey and events in other countries, such as the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange in the U.S. While many companies are holding their investments in Turkey at this time, Sutas' investment in Izmir is noteworthy. USSEC congratulates SUTAS for its new investment and trust in the dairy business and the consumption of dairy products.