Lentils: Black Lightning
We focused on our blog post on lentils this week. Two critical arrangements were made in the Import Regime by the Resolution of President No. 10660, published in the Official Gazette of November 29, 2025. The arrangements are particularly Import of pulses and Application of final use in grain/grain derivative products It concentrates on it. To access the relevant part of the Official Gazette, please click here
2024 Year of Lentil (Red and Green) Import Table
2024 Lentils (Red and Green) Export Table
Here are the detailed analysis and comments based on 2024 data:
1. Overview of the Global Market
- Market Size: Around the world in 2024 $4.25 Billion Value and Value 4.88 Million Tons The lentils (green and red) were imported.
- Price Trend: World average unit price per ton $870 at its level.
- Growth: In the last 5 years (2020-2024) there has been an annual growth of 14% on the value basis. However, in the last year (2023-2024), the value A decline of 7% It's visible. This could be a sign of relaxation in global commodity prices or surplus supply.
2. Leading Importers (Top 5 Countries)
The center of gravity of the lentil trade South Asia and Middle East It's on.
| Order | Country | Import Value ($) | Amount (Ton) | Unit Price ($/Ton) | Comment |
| 1 | India | 823 Million | 1.06 Million | 777 | The world's largest buyer. It's a huge market due to population density and basic food. |
| 2 | Turkey | 460 Million | 646 Thousand | 711 | It is the 2nd largest importer in the world. Detailed analysis is below. |
| 3 | Bangladesh | 433 Million | 655 Thousand | 661 | It makes a very high amount of purchases at a low unit price. It's a price-oriented market. |
| 4 | BAE | 228 Million | 309 Thousand | 739 | Regional distribution (re-export) may be playing the central role. |
| 5 | Iraq | 217 Million | 237 Thousand | 914 | It is also one of Turkey's major export markets. The unit price is above average. |
3. Location and Strategic Analysis of Turkey
Turkey is one of the most remarkable countries in the painting.
- Importer But Net Exporter: Although Turkey imports $460 million, in the column "Trade Balance" $166 Million It's a positive balance.
- Meaning: Turkey buys, processes, packs, and sells lentils to the world as raw materials (as part of the Internal Processing Regime). Turkey is a global "mercimak processing center".
- Price Advantage: The import unit price of Turkey $711/Ton. It is well below the world average of $870/Ton.
- Comment: This indicates that Turkey usually makes bulk and large montanous purchases from countries such as Canada or Kazakhstan during harvest periods. Also, this low price is the weighted portion of imports (usually cheaper than green lentils). red lentils It indicates that it may be. Although green lentil imports are also being made, it is the volume of red lentils that lowers the average.
- Collapse Signal: Imports of Turkey 2023-2024 the value-based Decreased 25%. This can be explained by the increase in domestic production, the stock being full, or the contraction of demand in export markets (especially the Middle East).
4. Price and Quality Analysis in Green Lentils
The column "Unit Value" (Unit Value) in the data gives a hint of what kind of lentils:
- High Price Markets (Green Lentil Potential):
- Germany ($1,430/Ton), Italy, France: These countries pay a much higher price per ton. This is their more value-added, packaged or special type (Puy lentils, etc.) Quality Green lentils It shows what they import. This is the high-profit target markets for exporter Turkish firms.
- Low Price Markets:
- Bangladesh ($661/Ton), Nepal ($588/Ton): These markets are price-oriented and probably prefer low-caliber or red lentils.
5. Summary and Recommendations
- Turkey is a Critical Player: Turkey is buying not just to consume, but to sell to the world. Despite a 25% drop in imports, it remains the 2nd largest buyer in the world.
- Canada is not a monopoly: When the supplier concentration (Concentration of supplying countries) columns are examined, it appears that Turkey's suppliers are diversifying. (It can be understood that the main supplier from the average distance data (6377 km) is still Canada, though close markets such as Kazakhstan and Russia are also in operation).
- Export Opportunity: If you are an exporter; European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Sweden) per ton 1300-1600 He pays on the dollar band. These markets are the most profitable routes for Turkey's processed and high quality green lentils.
- Risk: The fluctuations in India's imports directly determine world prices. If India's purchases go up, global prices go up, if they go down, prices go down. Following the Indian market is strategically important.
ILAVE INFORMATION:
Lentils are not just a pulse, but the oldest and most faithful companion in human history. The roots of this product, which we interpret the import data, extend to the land where civilization was born, namely, exactly to Anatolia.
Here is a history of lentils known as the "Eat of the Poor" and the "Lack of the Pharaohs":
1. Birth: Blessed Crescent (B.C.) 10,000 – 8,000)
Homeland of the lens Fertile Crescent The so-called Fertile Crescent; Southeast Anatolia is a region that encompasses northern Syria and Mesopotamia.
- The Legacy of the First Farmers: With wheat and barley, in human history First domesticated It is one of the plants.
- Anatolian Trails: Pilgrims in Burdur and Çayönü excavations in Diyarbakir. 7000-8000 Carbonized lentil seeds have been found over the years. So Turkey is the genetic home of lentils.
2. Place in Ancient Civilizations
Mercimek was at the table of both the rich and the poor in ancient times, but his perception changed from society to society.
- Ancient Egypt (c. 2400): The Egyptians had great respect for lentils. In Pharaoh's tombs were found lentils left for the journey of the afterlife. It was the primary source of protein for pyramid workers.
- Ancient Greek: The Greeks often viewed lentils as "poor food". the Philosopher Diogenes "If you'd learned how to drink a slur soup, you wouldn't have to flatter the king" His word is famous.
- Roman Empire: The Romans loved lentils and used them as army stores. Even famous Roman family names Lentulus, from the name lentils (Latin: Lens) has received.
- Sacred Books: In the Torah, Hz. Esau, Jacob's brother, is told that he sold his right of first son (right of inheritance) in exchange for "a bowl of red lentil soup". This story shows the appeal of the lentils at that time.
3. Name Origin: "Eye Doll"
The word "Mercimek" in Turkish is of Persian origin.
- Origin: Persian "Cursed" It comes from the word. Merdük means "Eye Doll" (Merdum: Human/Eye Doll + attachment: reduction attachment).
- The analogy: The shape of the lentil grain is named because it is likened to a human eye doll. Latin for "Lens" Because of its shape, the word also later gave the name to optical glass (Lens/Mercek). So the glasses glass gets its name from the lentils.
4. Journey to the Present and the Role of Turkey
The lentil spread throughout history from east to west (to Europe) and from east to south (to India). It reached the Americas only through the Spanish in the 16th century.
History and Today's Unification:
It is not a coincidence that Turkey is one of the largest processors in the 2024 data that we analyzed today. Turkey;
- Genetic Heritage: It is where their wild ancestors still grew up on their land.
- Cultural Heritage: For thousands of years, it has been one of the best-known cultures to process and consume this product (Sorba, Meatballs, etc.).
In a nutshell, lentils imported from Canada or Kazakhstan today are actually descendants of seeds that spread across the world from Anatolian soil thousands of years ago. Today, Turkey is taking this product and processing it, actually transforming its own historical heritage into global trade.
