Morocco’s Olive Oil Exports to EU Plummet 62% Amid Global Competition

Ranked the fifth largest producer of olive oil in the world, behind Spain, Tunisia, Italy and Greece, Morocco occupies the same position in terms of exports before the coronavirus crisis.

For this campaign, Morocco’s olive oil exports to the European market have fallen from 9,014 to 3,385 tons, while they had increased by 10% the previous year. A drop caused among other things by the decline in olive production and competition from Spain and Italy.

To boost its olive oil exports, Morocco is eyeing the North American market. Meanwhile, 137,346 tons of olive oil were imported by the EU during the first seven months of the campaign (October 2019-April 2020); 118,016 tons came from Tunisia (+74.7%); 6,058 tons from Turkey (+56%); 3,238 tons from Argentina (+53.8%) and 1,783 tons from Syria (-72.4%).

Between October 2019 and April 2020, 139,683 tons were imported into the United States (+7.6%), followed by Brazil with 58,325 tons (+37.6%) and Japan, with 40,461 tons (+11.5%).

In addition, olive oil has been exported by European countries to the United Kingdom (36,254 tons, -0.2%), China (26,052 tons, +3.1%), Canada (21,164 tons, +29.9%) and Australia (20,937 tons, +45.5%).