In the MY 2022/23, Egypt has set a historical record for exporting dates to the Moroccan market, more than doubling its export volume in this direction, according to EastFruit. Such a rapid growth of exports allowed Egypt to also become the second largest date supplier to Morocco.
From October 2022 to September 2023 (i.e., over 11 months of the past MY), 32 thousand tons of dates were exported from Egypt to Morocco. This volume is two and a half times as high as in the entire MY 2021/22, and twice as high as the average export volume for the previous four marketing years! Moreover, unlike the previous season, Egyptian exporters managed to significantly extend their presence in the Moroccan market, setting records for shipments at its very beginning, from October to December.
“Morocco is the second largest date importer in the world, despite having quite serious volumes of its own production. Moreover, dates for Morocco are the most important category of fruit and vegetable imports, accounting for almost a third of them in the value terms. Egypt, on the other hand, is the largest date producer in the world, so it is not surprising that trade in dates between the two countries is developing rapidly,” explains Yevhen Kuzin, Fruit & Vegetable Market Analyst at EastFruit.
Morocco is the largest export market for Egyptian dates. Other important importers of Egyptian products include Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.), although exports in this direction have declined in the past season. However, unlike Morocco, Egyptian dates appear on Southeast Asian markets a bit later and are mainly present from January to April. In addition to Morocco and Southeast Asia, dates from Egypt are also supplied to Middle Eastern countries, Turkey, EU, and many other markets.
For more information: east-fruit.com