São Paulo – The product Egyptian exporters have the best chance to sell more of to Brazil right now is garlic. So said Brazil’s agricultural attaché in Cairo, Cesar Simas Teles (pictured above) during the webinar “How to Export to Brazil,” targeted at food producers in the Arab country. The event was hosted by Egypt’s Agricultural Exports Council (AEC) this Wednesday (10).
“To me, garlic is the main product at the moment. There is a huge opportunity. Brazil’s garlic suppliers right now are China, Argentina, Spain, and then Egypt,” he said, noting that import tariffs are levied on sales from China to Brazil, which means Egyptians could increase their foothold.
The attaché also believes the pandemic may have led to increased demand, since consumers see garlic as a health-promoting product. “Brazil imports half its garlic,” he said.
Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce secretary-general Tamer Mansour, who spoke during the seminar, said Egypt had a 13% share of Brazil’s garlic market in 2020, with sales amounting to USD 6.64 million during the year.
Cesar Simas Teles said frozen strawberries are another promising export option. Brazil imported USD 9.8 million worth of the product in 2019, and Egypt was its sixth biggest supplier, according to the attaché.
Teles also mentioned that Egypt was recently cleared to ship citrus fruits to Brazil. In 2019 alone, citrus imports to Brazil came out to USD 35.8 million. “I must stress the potential of two products: grapes and citrus fruits. These are premium markets. If you supply any other product, you probably be unable to compete with local growers,” he said.
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Mansour said that when it comes to Arab countries, Egypt was the sixth biggest exporter of goods to Brazil, and the third biggest destination for goods from Brazil in 2020. As to the free trade agreement in place between Egypt and the Mercosur, an economic bloc comprising Brazil, the executive remarked that the treaty covers 89% of all food items imported from Egypt to Brazil in 2020.
The event also featured other experts and authorities, such as Michael Gamal Kaddes, the director-general on Trade Agreements at Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Nashwa Salah, of the Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS), who’s based in Brazil.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
