Morocco Captures 65% of EU’s Tomato Import Market in 2023

Rabat – Morocco held a commanding 65% share of the EU’s total tomato imports in 2023, with imports rising from nearly 329,700 tons to over 539,300 tons.

In the 2023/24 season alone, the EU imported 551,000 tons of tomatoes from the global south between October and March. Of this, 373,421 tons were Moroccan, according to data from the European Commission cited in agriculture-focused website, FreshPlaza.

A staggering 78% of Moroccan tomatoes ended up in France, amounting to 293,100 tons. Moroccan tomatoes represented 98% of France’s tomato imports from non-EU countries during this period.

The influx of Moroccan tomatoes has contributed to a significant drop in prices, particularly in regions like Almeria, Spain, known for their winter tomato campaigns.

“Since late December and early January, the campaign has been complicated by these low prices, and we haven’t been able to recover,” Julian Rodríguez, a producer from Almeria and member of CASI told FreshPlaza. “Fortunately, the beginning of the campaign was very good, with rising prices.”

Rodriguez pointed to favorable weather conditions across all tomato-producing regions, which have led to excess production. “We are transporting several million more kilos than the last campaign, even with the low prices and premature harvesting,” he explained.

Since the start of this agricultural season, Moroccan tomato exports have come under a vicious attack campaign from EU farmers. In February, European farmers continuously blocked roads and attacked Moroccan trucks transporting vegetables in protest against what they see as unfair competition from non-EU countries.

Farmers maintain that countries like Morocco do not have a competitive advantage as they do not have to comply with the same environmental and labor standards, which lowers the cost of production and allows them to sell vegetables at a cheaper price.

Despite the EU farmers’ allegations, Morocco runs a trade deficit with the EU of €10 billion as the country exports low-value products such as agricultural produce while importing high-value products.