Dates: Ramadan drives demand
February 12, 2024 at 4:53 PM ,
Der AUDITOR
Egyptian exporters achieve record exports
There is just under a month to go until Muslims around the world celebrate their most important festival: Ramadan celebrations will take place from 10 March to 9 April 2024. Dates have always been an essential part of this, partly because of their nutritional value, which provides people with energy during the fast, and partly because of their cultural significance. Ramadan is therefore very important for date exporters, as demand increases sharply at this time of year. In fact, it looks as if buying interest is growing from year to year. At the same time, the season for Egyptian Medjool dates is as good as over, as the experts at FreshPlaza report. They have spoken to Ramadan Elsayyad, a local date exporter, who says that the season has been more than successful. Record quantities are said to have been exported, partly because new markets were also opened up, and the prices realised were satisfactory.
Prices have risen significantly
Demand for Egyptian dates has risen significantly since October, Elsayyad says. This could be related to the global political situation, as a result of which CIS states such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are increasingly importing goods from Egypt. At the same time, buying interest in Turkey, the EU, etc. is consistently strong. The exporter reports to FreshPlaza that his exports alone have more than doubled compared to the previous season, with a price increase of almost a third. His situation is representative of the entire Egyptian medjool date sector. One problem here, however, is the crisis in the Red Sea, which is making shipments to many destinations very difficult. Egyptian exporters have the advantage here that a large proportion of exports to Asian countries, particularly Bangladesh, were already taking place before the Houthi attacks.
Egypt has big plans
Elsayyad is optimistic about the new season. Like other Egyptian market players, he has invested in new machines in order to work more efficiently and further increase exports to meet the high demand. At the same time, the quality must be high. Other market players report that orders have already been placed early, so there is every indication that the Egyptian date sector will continue to grow this year. Egypt is aiming to become the world's largest producer of Medjool dates.
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