Egypt was able to achieve a record revenue from the sale of tomato paste and puree on the global market in 2022, according to EastFruit. Furthermore, the export of Egyptian tomato paste for the first half of this year also rose to a historical maximum. At the same time, the country continues to lose opportunities to increase export revenue in the fresh tomato segment due to structural problems in the industry.
In 2022, Egypt earned $57 million from the export of tomato paste and puree, which is 50% higher than the previous year’s figure. Moreover, over the previous five years, revenue from exports of this product has grown almost sixfold! In the same year, Egypt was able to come closest to achieving its 2022 calendar year result in just its first half, with exports reaching $47 million for January-June.
It is worth noting that Egypt is demonstrating rapid growth in tomato paste exports across all key sales directions. Thus, the EU countries remain the main export market for Egyptian processors: over the past five years, revenue from tomato paste supplies from Egypt in this direction has more than quintupled. Previously, Egypt mainly exported tomato paste to Italy, while Poland took its place after five years. By the way, it was Poland that brought Egyptian manufacturers the highest revenue of $10 million among all countries in 2022, and a similar figure was achieved for the first half of this year.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the second most important region for Egyptian exports. The exports to this region have grown almost 11 times in the last five years, with South Africa, Senegal, and Kenya being the main consumers of this product. In North Africa, Morocco remains the key sales direction ($5 million for January to June 2023), while Jordan is the main export market in the Middle East ($4 million). South America has demonstrated the most rapid growth in importing Egyptian tomato paste in recent years, but its share is still relatively low: exports to Brazil brought Egypt about $1 million for the first half of this year.
Read more at east-fruit.com