Based on EastFruit, Egyptian fresh fruit exporters, which target their efforts at the EU market, enjoyed an extremely successful year in 2023. They were able to double the volume of their exports, and reached more than half a million tonnes in the very first time!
The remarkable feat was caused by an increase in exports of oranges from Egypt towards the EU in the wake of the drought which has affected the major orange-producing nations within the region. The 2022/23 season saw the amount of EU orange production according to FAS USDA estimates, dropped to the lowest levels since the beginning of time, resulting in an unprecedented demand for oranges coming from other countries outside of the EU. In particular, in the time of season (November 2022 through October 2023) The exports from Egypt’s citrus to Spain increased by an astounding four times!
The next most significant area of concern of importance for Egyptian exporters who concentrate exclusively on the EU market was that of grapes. There was a positive growth trend for this particular product, though it was not as spectacular as oranges. Moreover, Egypt’s share of the market in EU was sometimes questioned by controversy over the utilization of protected grape varieties.
Other fresh fruits comprised in less than percent of the export structure of Egypt. Some of the most prominent included mangoes (21,000 tonnes) and citrus fruits (7,600 tonnes), mango and guava (3,000 tons) as well as the strawberries (2,500 tons) and watermelon (1,400 tonnes) as well as grapefruits (1,200 tons).
It’s important to note that exports for almost every one of them was up in 2023, with the exception the fresh strawberry, where exported declined. However, the reverse happened for frozen strawberry as their exports are growing consistently for at least the last year.
The Netherlands (254,000 tons) remains Egypt’s largest trading partner on the EU market. This was closely followed by Spain (103,000 tonnes) and this increased the import of oranges. Together, the two countries account for around two-thirds of the total exports of fresh fruits into the EU. Additionally, they are also the biggest importers of fresh fruit from the non-EU nations.
Egypt was also able to grow the fresh fruit exports across all major export destinations across the EU. Alongside Spain the country saw substantial increase in exports into Italy, France, and Ireland that purchased 2-2.5 percent more Egyptian goods, and exports of the Netherlands were up by 60% during the course of.
For more details: east-fruit.com