The first half of the Egyptian citrus season has been "very successful", according to Mohamed Maatouk of the exporter Egyptian Emirati. "Several factors have contributed to this success, from the good weather to the global market situation which resulted in great demand for Egyptian produce. For Navel oranges, we have reached our sales targets, and we are on track to reach our goals for Valencia and Murcott." The Egyptian Emirati expects a sales volume of 8,000 tons this year in citrus alone.
"We had a lot of challenges at the beginning of the year, including the situation in Eastern Europe. It caused a major disruption to our logistics and a lot of pressure on shipping lines. However, the Egyptian government has been responsive and has greatly facilitated the chain of command and export processes, which has helped us greatly", explains Maatouk.
"The situation in Turkey and Syria was very emotional and sad moments for all of us, and it has also caused significant disruption in the global market. The unfortunate earthquake has led to an increase in demand for Egyptian citrus, and consequently a rise in prices", adds the grower.
Despite this increase in prices, Maatouk assures that Egypt remains competitive with the rest of the world: "prices are rising around the world, but ours remain unbeatable, thanks to our geographical position at the crossroads of continents, the canal of Suez which guarantees us a competitive advantage over other origins such as South Africa and Spain".
Maatouk, who also exports onions and potatoes, assures that Egypt will continue to export these two crops at a time when several other countries have banned their export "the yellow onion varieties are available from now until December. the red ones will be available from May. I think we will be able to alleviate the shortage in the European market". The exporter is marketing 10000 tons of onions and potatoes this season.
"The agricultural season in general is prosperous, which encourages us to make more efforts. We will be injecting up to $10 million in the capital, and implementing subsequent investments in the next two years to keep up with the growing demand. We are now targeting the Far East markets, including India, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and of course, we want to enhance our position in the Russian market."
In addition to citrus, onions, and potatoes, the producer also exports grapes, pomegranates, and garlic.
For more information:
Mohamed Maatouk
Egyptian Emirati
Tel: +20 122 122 8020
Email: [email protected]
www.egyptian-emirati.com