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Rabat – Morocco’s olive oil exports reached 13,200 tonnes in the first eight months of 2022, double the volume the country exported during the same period a year earlier.
According to data from Morocco’s Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forestry, the country’s olive oil exports have so far totaled MAD 456 million this year, up by 47% from last year.
“Olive oil exports recorded good performance during 2022, thanks mainly to strong demand on major international markets,” noted the ministry’s statement, adding that growing demand for Moroccan olive oil is largely concentrated in Europe, where demand increased threefolds in both volume and value.
Exports of olive oil pomace more than doubled at the end of August, the ministry further indicated, documenting that Morocco exported a volume of 13,100 tonnes of olive oil pomace during the first eight months of 2022, generating MAD 212 million ($19.4 million) in value.
Meanwhile, the national production of olive oil in the 2021-2022 agriculture campaign is estimated to have reached 1.96 million tonnes, recording a 21% year-on-year increase despite a general trend of agricultural output decline as Morocco endures its worst drought in three decades.
The Moroccan ministry’s growth projection in the production of olive oil echoes the conclusions of the European Union’s recent annual report on agriculture production.
Released in August, the report forecasts Morocco’s olive oil production to total 40,000 tonnes at the end of 2022, a 25% growth compared to last year.
Olive oil production is an important subsector in Moroccan agriculture, employing 380,000 workers and holding a 19% share in Morocco’s domestic edible oil market.
Morocco’s olive oil exports generated an average of MAD 1.8 billion (roughly $180 million) between 2013-2017.
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