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Table olive exports from Turkey soared in the first five months of the 2023/24 export year (which begins in November in Turkey), bringing in $114 million (€106 million) of revenue, 15 percent more than in the same period in 2022/23.
Davut Er, the president of the Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters’ Association (EZZIB), added that the amount of table olives exported had also increased by 18 percent.
If the restrictions imposed on bulk and barreled olive oil exports continue, it will cause irreparable damage to our sector.- Davut Er, president, EZZIB
Table olive exporters enjoy a profitable year, buoyed by a record-breaking harvest of 605,00 tons in the 2022/23 crop year (which begins in October) and another bumper crop of 445,000 tons this season.
However, the country’s continued prohibition of bulk olive oil exports has resulted in a significant decrease, with the amount of olive oil sold abroad falling from 81,000 tons in the first five months of the 2022/23 export year to 31,000 tons in the current crop year, a 62 percent decrease.
See Also:Turkish Olive Oil Exports Can Make Up for Europe’s Deficit Once Ban Is Lifted, Official SaysHistorically high olive oil prices at origin across the Mediterranean basin did offset some of the losses felt by producers, with the value of exports falling by 36 percent from $358 million (€331 million) in the previous export year to $228 million (€212 million) in the current one.
Still, this news is bittersweet, with producers wondering what could have been if the prohibition had ended as planned on November 1, 2023. Instead, it was extended indefinitely on October 17th.
“If the restrictions imposed on bulk and barreled olive oil exports continue, it will cause irreparable damage to our sector,” Er said.
With the implementation of the olive oil export band, officials had hoped to lower the high olive oil prices on the domestic market ahead of
Officials implemented the ban citing high olive oil prices in the domestic market. Turkish officials previously banned bulk exports in March 2021 and April 2022. However, the current prohibition seems likely to last longer.
While Er and other producers do not begrudge the government for working to lower prices at home, now that the 2023/24 harvest has been completed, they believe there is plenty of olive oil for both the domestic market and the more profitable export markets.
“We entered the 2023/24 crop year with approximately 140,000 tons of excess stock,” Er said.”If we add the 140,000 tons of stock, 185,000 tons of yield [from the current harvest] and 50,000 tons of olive oil coming from Afrin [a Turkish-occupied region of northern Syria] in the 2023/24 season, altogether, we have 375,000 tons of olive oil.”
“When we anticipate that there will be 100,000 tons of exports and 175,000 tons of domestic consumption in the 2023/24 season, we will enter the 2024/25 season with a minimum stock of 100,000 tons,” he added.
The news of the significant decreases in olive oil exports comes a week after Er told an EZZIB general assembly that he believes Turkey can export $2 billion (€1.86 billion) annually by 2028.
“Despite the bulk and barrel export restrictions imposed at the end of July, we aim to boost this figure [annual olive oil exports] to $1.5 billion (€1.39 million) in the next few years and to $2 billion in 2023,” he told the assembly.
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