The Egyptian onion exports to the EU have more than doubled in the MY 2022/23, reports EastFruit. Furthermore, their volumes have reached their 4-year high.
In total, in the period between July 2022 and June 2023, Egypt has shipped 128,000 tonnes of onions to the EU market. For comparison, the Egyptian export volumes did not exceed 60,000 tonnes annually during the previous three marketing years. Nevertheless, current volumes are still lower than a record figure of 165,000 tonnes exported from Egypt to the EU in the MY 2018/19.
The main reason for such a sharp rise in European importers’ demand for Egyptian onions was the onion crop failure in the EU due to drought in summer last year. Local farmers’ stocks were rapidly depleting, and Egypt started increasing its supplies to the EU in spring 2023. In addition, the devaluation of the Egyptian pound made products from Egypt more competitive in price in the global market.
The Netherlands remained the key importer of onions from Egypt in the MY 2022/23 and used them mostly for re-export to other countries. Nevertheless, the Netherlands had the lowest share in the Egyptian onion export structure in the MY 2022/23: it stood at just 40%, while previously it had varied between 53-64% and reached 80% in the MY 2021/22.
For more information: east-fruit.com