Page 25 - AA 2023 Year Book Website

Egypt

EGYPT EXPORTED A RECORD VOLUME OF

POTATOES TO SOUTHEAST ASIA IN 2022

By the end of 2022, Egypt exported specifics of the tropical climate with its
a record volume of potatoes to the pests and conditions. Noteworthy is the
countries of Southeast Asia. Indonesia freezing phenomenon on the island of
remained the main destination for their Java, which, according to local sources,
supply, and exports more than doubled produces about half of all potatoes in
last year. Indonesia.
In total, over the past year, Egypt If frost on plants early in the morning
exported over 17 000 tonnes of potatoes in the mountainous regions of the island
to the countries of Southeast Asia, in summer is an excellent opportunity
which exceeded the volume of 2021 for tourists to get beautiful shots, local
by 120%, and compared to 2020, the through imports and local production. producers call this phenomenon upas
volume of exports increased 18 times! This applies to fresh produce and frozen dew, which means “poisonous (or
Indonesia remained the key destination french fries, the consumption growth of deadly) dew”. Depending on the season,
for Egyptian exports, while deliveries to which is spurred by the development of upas dew can severely damage crops
Malaysia declined sharply, and exports tourism in the region. or lead to their loss, which may explain
to other countries were minor. the atypical increase in imports during
As for the production of potatoes in the some months of the year.
As a result, Southeast Asia became
the fourth largest market for Egyptian countries of Southeast Asia, despite the The structure of potato imports to the
potatoes after Russia, the EU, and the efforts of the local industry and the entry countries of Southeast Asia is also very
Gulf States last year. Interestingly, Egypt of international players, it is still highly peculiar. About two thirds of the total
exported potatoes there not only in the dependent on the weather and the
traditional months of exports (spring-
summer), but also in October, and the
October exports helped get a record
volume.
It should be noted that Indonesia is the
leading potato producer in the Southeast
Asian region, but it imports from 40 000
to 80 000 tonnes of potatoes annually.
Moreover, in total, up to 450 000 tonnes of
fresh potatoes are supplied to the region
of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, etc.),
not to mention frozen french fries.

Potato is not a key crop for consumption
in this region, like rice, but the local
market for this product continues to grow

are provided by four Asian countries
(China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh).
Basically, these potatoes are used for
sale in local markets and ethnic shops.
The remaining third of imports are
distributed among suppliers of good-
quality potatoes from the EU countries
(mainly Germany), North America,
Australia, and Egypt. These products are
already sold in local supermarket chains
or are used for processing with specific
requirements for raw materials that
potato suppliers from other countries
cannot meet.

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