Egypt breaks garlic export record to EU. Much more challenges ahead

Egypt will export a record volume of garlic to the EU countries in 2023, according to EastFruit. However, the pace of export growth in this direction may slow down slightly this year, although the volume of exports for the first eight months of the year already exceeds its indicator for the whole of last year.

“Garlic exports from Egypt have been growing actively in recent years. Nevertheless, this year the volumes of Egyptian shipments for various reasons will only slightly exceed the 2022 figure. It seems that the country has so far reached a certain ceiling of its capabilities in the EU market, and overcoming it will be a serious challenge for Egyptian exporters from next year,” warns Yevhen Kuzin, Fruit & Vegetable Market Analyst at EastFruit.

Thus, from January to August of this year, Egyptian garlic suppliers sent almost 9 thousand tons of this product to the EU countries. This is slightly more than 100 tons above the volumes for the entire calendar year of 2022. Considering that in September-December garlic from Egypt is hardly supplied to the EU, the final result of this year may change only slightly by its end.

Garlic exports from Egypt gradually increase from January, when the first small batches of fresh garlic appear on the market. The peak of fresh garlic exports falls on March-April. From mid-spring dry garlic also appears on the market and is exported until the end of the year. However, the largest volumes of dry garlic are exported from the country in late April – early June.