Turkish Table Olive Exports Set to Reach Record-High $250 Million

Summary

The Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters Association reported that Turkish table olive exports are pro­jected to reach a record-high of $250 mil­lion in the 2024/25 crop year, with 64,000 met­ric tons exported since the begin­ning of the crop year in October 2024. Turkey’s table olive exports have increased by 33% in vol­ume and 26.5% in value com­pared to the pre­vi­ous year, with Germany and Iraq as the top des­ti­na­tions for black and green olive imports.

The Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters Association (EZZIB) announced that Turkish table olive exports are on pace to reach a record-high $250 (€221) mil­lion in the 2024/25 crop year.

Turkey exported 64,000 met­ric tons of table olives val­ued at $162 (€143) mil­lion since October 2024, the start of the crop year. Emre Uygun, the EZZIB chair­man, stated that table olive exports by vol­ume and value were 33 per­cent and 26.5 per­cent higher, respec­tively, than in the 2023/24 period.

“We are mov­ing for­ward with sure steps toward the 100,000 tons of table olive exports and $250 mil­lion of for­eign exchange income tar­get we set for the 2024/25 sea­son,” Uygun said.

Turkey har­vested 750,000 tons of table olives in 2024/25, mak­ing it the world’s largest pro­ducer by a sig­nif­i­cant mar­gin. By com­par­i­son, International Olive Council data show that the seven table olive-pro­duc­ing mem­bers of the European Union yielded 795,000 tons. 

According to the EZZIB, black olive exports increased by 22 per­cent, sur­pass­ing 49,000 tons with a value of $123 mil­lion (€109 mil­lion). Additionally, green olive exports increased by 46 per­cent in quan­tity, reach­ing 15,000 tons, and by 43 per­cent in value, to $39 mil­lion (€35 mil­lion).

Uygun said Germany and Iraq are the lead­ing des­ti­na­tions for black and green olive imports, with Romania cited as the third-largest des­ti­na­tion for black olives and the United States named as the third des­ti­na­tion for green olives.

While Uygun did not spec­u­late on the impact of the ten per­cent tar­iff imposed by the United States on nearly all imports from Turkey, includ­ing olive oil and table olives, he pointed out that Turkish pro­duc­ers export olives to 110 coun­tries.

The announce­ment comes weeks after Turkey con­firmed a record-high olive oil yield of 475,000 tons, and plans to focus on export­ing to lucra­tive mar­kets includ­ing Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan and the United States.

Indeed, exporters and offi­cials in Italy, Spain and Tunisia have raised con­cerns that cur­rent and future U.S. tar­iff regimes may favor Turkish exporters. The U.S. imports approx­i­mately 95 per­cent of the olive oil it con­sumes, with 90 per­cent of these imports orig­i­nat­ing from the European Union.

After U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced tar­iffs on nearly every coun­try on April 2^nd, the ten per­cent rate on Turkey gave the gov­ern­ment a com­pet­i­tive advan­tage com­pared to the 28 per­cent tar­iff faced by Tunisia and the 20 per­cent tar­iff imposed on imports from the E.U.

While nearly all of these tar­iff rates were later low­ered to ten per­cent to give coun­tries time to nego­ti­ate, E.U. offi­cials were rat­tled last week by renewed threats of a 50 per­cent tar­iff.

At the time of the orig­i­nal announce­ment, Mehmet Simsek, Turkey’s finance min­is­ter, con­firmed that Turkey’s ​“rel­a­tively low tar­iff rate may pro­vide a com­par­a­tive advan­tage in some sec­tors.”

María Morales, the pres­i­dent of the Seville chap­ter of the Association of Young Farmers and Ranchers (Asaja-Seville), alluded to this as well.

“Many coun­tries on the other side of the Mediterranean [espe­cially Turkey], our com­peti­tors in the U.S., have lower tar­iffs. So it will be eas­ier for them to export,” she noted.

• Turkish Agrinews
• AP News