São Paulo – Tunisia exported 63,000 tons of olive oil in the three months through January, Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) agency reported last Thursday (20) based on information provided by the Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries minister Samir Taieb. Revenues reached DT 423 million (USD 147.4 million) from November 2019 through January 2020.
The minister considered the figures to be good in these three first months of the current olive season. He said that Tunisian olive oil exports are expected to peak in March and April and will continue at a steady pace. Taieb estimates that foreign sales might exceed 250,000 tons by the end of 2020, generating a revenue of DT 2.4 billion (USD 837 billion).
Taieb specified that out of the 63,000 tons exported from November to January, 5,000 went to the European Union. Figures from Brazil’s Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) show that Brazil imported 375.6 tons of Tunisian olive oil for USD 1.4 million in the three months through January. In volume, Brazil received 0.6% of olive oils from Tunisia.
Taieb assured at a press briefing on the progress of the 2019/2020 olive season. He estimated that the olive oil prices will remain dependent on the international market currently dominated by Spain and have fallen. This is due to the increase of supply on a world scale. Taieb recalled that prices in Tunisia have been subsidized to make it profitable for farmers, exporters and olive oil processors.
Through February 14, 2020, Tunisian olive harvest reached 78%, the minister. He expects the olive oil production this season to more than double to 350 thousand tonnes, from 140 thousand tonnes in 2018/2019 season.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
