(ANSAmed) – ISTANBUL, NOVEMBER 27 – Turkish olive oil producers set an ambitious goal for increasing exports, announcing at a weekend meeting of the Turkish Exporter’s Union (TIM) that they would sell USD 3.8 billion worth of olive oil abroad in 2023. The 2023 benchmark – which coincides with the country’s 100th anniversary – would be a major increase over current olive oil exports, which have so far amounted to USD 155 million in the first 10 months of 2012, as Today’s Zaman reported.
Underlying those ambitions are what TIM head Mehmet Buyukeksi said is a major increase in acreage devoted to olive production, stating over the weekend that a major push by farmers and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry has nearly doubled the number of farmable olive trees over the past year.
”The sector’s 2023 target is USD 3.8 billion, which we believe is a number we can meet,” Buyukeksi said. Exports will need to grow at a much faster pace than they did this year, however, with Buyukeksi conceding that olive oil exports saw a modest uptick of just 5% in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period of last year. Exporters are expecting major growth in global markets, the TIM head said, as countries such as Japan, South Korea and China gain appetites for the oil.
(ANSAmed).
via Turkey: olive oil producers set USD 3.8 bln export goal – Economy – ANSAMed.it.