Egypt’s onion exports to the European Union skyrocket to 128,000 Tonnes in 2022/2023
EGYPT – The largest supplier of onions to the EU, Egypt, has raised its shipments for the year 2022/2023 after three years of stagnation.
Egypt’s onion exports for July 2022 and June 2023 exceeded expectations, reaching 128,000 tons which is a dramatic increase from the previous season’s shipment of 60,000 tons.
This shift was notably remarkable and marked the highest volume of shipments made by the onion export sector in Egypt after a three-year standstill.
Two main factors contribute to the success of this growth in the EU markets, as stated by East Fruit.
The first cause is the occurrence of drought in 2022, which adversely affected the EU’s onion bulb production for that year, resulting in a reduced yield and lowered onion stocks in the region.
Secondly, Egypt has devalued the pound, pound resulting in their products becoming more competitive the global markets. This devaluation has occurred three times since March 2022, resulting in a 50% fall in the currency against the US Dollar.
Egypt’s top five onion importers include the Netherlands, which is the leading onion buyer within the European Union (EU). It accounts for 40% of the total shipment, followed closely by Italy, Slovenia, Romania, and Greece.
Notably, while Egypt remains the biggest supplier of fresh produce to the EU, covering 32% of the total stock imports, it has not surpassed its astonishing performance in 2018/2019, when shipments totaled 165,000 tons.
Other onion suppliers to the EU include New Zealand, which is ranked second after Egypt, supplying up to 52,000 tons of the produce, and South America, with its exports totaling 66,000 tons.
Onions are Egypt’s most important agricultural export, with an export value of USD 133.16 million and an export volume of nearly 3.3 million tons as of 2021.
The fruit and vegetable sector in Egypt is the fastest-growing agribusiness sector in the country.
Most of these fresh produce items are region-specific, as they depend on natural factors such as climate, topography, soil type, and farming practices.
While Egypt produces several fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, beets, oranges, potatoes, onions, dates, and grapes, oranges are the country’s primary fruit export.
Egypt is boosting its export of fruits and vegetables by creating new markets, modernizing laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment, and upgrading the quarantine system to comply with international quality standards.
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