Egypt keeps driving USA out of EU sweet potato market

Egypt will again export record-breaking volumes of sweet potatoes to the EU market. Egyptian sweet potato exporters have raised their sales to the EU-27 at least 14 times since the MY 2022/23, gradually driving their key competitors from this market, reports EastFruit.

In the MY 2017/18, Egypt exported just 5,300 tonnes of sweet potatoes to the EU countries, with the peak registered in August-December. Since then, exports were annually growing by 69% on average and reached 74,200 tonnes in the first 11 months of the MY 2022/23 (July-May). In addition, the period of the Egyptian exports to the EU-27 has extended considerably and now lasts all year round, with the largest volumes still exported in September-March.

Egyptian sweet potato exporters focus mainly on sales on the Netherlands among the EU-27 countries. Although exports to other countries have also been growing, the Netherlands is still the main destination for Egyptian sweet potatoes, and its share varies from 69% to 77% in the total sweet potato exports from Egypt to the EU-27.