Source: Ukragroconsult (Ukraine)
Tunisia’s olive oil exports are expected to reach the highest level in 5 years on the back of a sustained recovery in the harvest.
The country’s Ministry of Agriculture estimates that Tunisia will produce 340,000 tons of crop in MY 2024/25, which would be the highest since the record harvest of 440,000 tons produced in 2019/20. As a result, Tunisia’s National Olive Oil Office (ONH) expects exports to increase by 50% to 300 thousand tons.
However, falling olive oil prices on the domestic market make analysts doubt that exports will reach the record 5.16 billion dinars (€1.56 billion) of the 2023/24 season.
“Our country has made significant efforts, allowing it to increase exports of packaged oil to 28,600 tons or 15% of the total,” said Salem Fourati, vice president of the Association for International Studies headquartered in Tunis.
Fourati advocated a formal partnership with the European Union, which imported 176,000 tons of Tunisian olive oil in MY 2022/23, but outlined some of the challenges facing the sector: “Although our prices are lower than in some European countries and will slowly but surely increase for the benefit of farmers, but export prices should be slightly lower than European prices to avoid a market disruption that would harm all operators.”
