Turkish Mercantile Exchange (TMEX) Agricultural Commodity Indices can be used as a benchmark in financial instrument issuances. In this context, Türkiye’s first lease certificate (sukuk) issuance using the Wheat Bread Index, which is calculated based on Electronic Warehouse Receipt (EWR) Market bread wheat, EWR transactions published by our Exchange, was realized by Development Investment Asset Leasing Co. Inc. on 15.02.2024. Tarfin was the fund user, Development Investment Bank of Türkiye was the financial advisor, Vakıf Katılım Bankası was the sales agent and ISFA Islamic Finance Consultancy also took part as the advisory committee.  While this step was recorded as an important innovation in financing sources for farmers, it also brought the second financial product in the Turkish financial market after the issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) based on the Wheat Bread Index published by TMEX.

Mehmet Memecan, General Manager of Tarfin, stated: “At Tarfin, we remain committed to strengthening the agricultural sector—one of the economy’s most important building blocks—and standing by our farmers. While public sector projects that have a broad impact in this area are of vital importance, it has become an inevitable duty for the private sector to contribute to the advancement of agriculture. I would like to express that Tarfin is acting with this sense of responsibility and that we take justifiable pride in taking such a critical step in the sector together with our valued business partners. This sukuk issuance we have carried out has been recorded as an innovation in agricultural input supply sources and a significant advancement toward enhancing the well-being of our farmers. This success represents a groundbreaking development for the entire sector. I would like to thank each and every one of our stakeholders with whom we have collaborated in this field.”

İbrahim ÖZTOP, General Manager of the Development and Investment Bank of Turkey, stated that the sukuk issuance marked a significant collaboration on behalf of the agricultural sector, saying, “Through the yield structure established by our bank and Tarfin, we are providing financial protection to farmers against the risk of a price increase of over 100% in wheat prices between the production and harvest seasons. Thanks to this innovative product, investors now have access to a new investment vehicle that provides direct exposure to agricultural commodity prices. Promoting agricultural production, providing financial advisory services to investors, and supporting them is of great value to us. Previously, we have issued debt instruments for various companies operating in the agriculture and food sectors, including Altınmarka Gıda, Tarım Kredi Holding, CarrefourSA, Tarım Kredi Tedarik, and Tiryaki Agro, in addition to Tarfin. “Once again, we have pioneered a first in our country by signing a wheat-indexed sukuk issuance with the digital agriculture platform Tarfin. We will continue to take responsibility for our country’s present and future and support high-value-added projects.”.

Ali KIRALİ, CEO of TMEX, stated, “As the Turkish Mercantile Exchange, our mission is not only to serve as a trading platform but also to ensure the stable growth and sustainability of the agricultural sector by facilitating farmers’ access to financing. The latest innovation serving this purpose is Türkiye’s first sukuk issuance based on the TMEX Bread Wheat Index, and through this initiative, our Exchange has played a significant role in the design of financial products tailored to the agricultural sector. On behalf of TMEX, I would like to thank all the institutions and organizations that contributed to the successful completion of this issuance and with whom we have collaborated. I congratulate Tarfin, Development Investment Bank of Türkiye Inc., Development Investment Asset Leasing Co. Inc., Vakıf Katılım Bankası Inc., and ISFA Islamic Finance Consultancy Trade Co. Inc. for paving the way to open new opportunities for financing our agricultural sector, and I look forward to collaborating on such innovative projects in the future.”

Sukuk (Lease Certificate)

A sukuk is an interest-free capital market product that grants investors ownership of an asset or the right to benefit from it, provides fixed or variable returns at specific intervals, and can be traded on secondary markets.

TMEX Agricultural Commodity Indices

Developed by TMEX to address the need for a national-level indicator of agricultural commodity prices in Türkiye, the TMEX Agricultural Commodity Indices have been published since July 14, 2021. Designed to serve as the pulse of agriculture and a compass for farmers and investors, these indices transform the TMEX EWR Market dataset into a key indicator. Based on transactions executed in the EWR Market, they are used to measure the price performance of a single agricultural product (Barley, Wheat, Corn) or a group of agricultural products (Grains) by utilizing. The platforms where the TMEX Agricultural Commodity Indices are published are as follows:

• TMEX website: http://seans.turib.com.tr; http://www.turib.com.tr
• Data Vendor Companies:MATRIKS and FOREKS data distribution terminal symbols: