Jordan exports 270,000 tonnes fruit, veg in Q1
Salah Tarawneh, the ministry’s assistant secretary general for marketing, said that the Kingdom exported a total of 270,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to over 40 Arab and foreign countries during the January-March period.
Iraq alone, he said, imported nearly 33 per cent of local exports.
Around 30 per cent of the exports went to the Syrian and Lebanese markets, while Arab Gulf states imported nearly 3.5 per cent of the produce, Tarawneh said.
The remaining 32 per cent of Jordan’s fruit and vegetable exports were imported by European countries and Russia, he noted.
Tomatoes topped the list of overall exports, representing around 60 per cent, followed by cucumbers and eggplant, Tarawneh said.
Fruit and vegetable exports during the first three months of this year witnessed a 27 per cent increase, with Department of Statistics figures showing that the value of exports during the first quarter of 2012 stood at JD113.7 million.
Tarawneh noted that exports to Europe have gone down sharply due to the crisis in Syria, which used to be Jordan’s main land route to Europe through Turkey.
The Kingdom continues to export through Syria, but at a far lower frequency due to security reasons.
Tarawneh said that Haifa Port is sometimes used as an alternative route to European markets but the majority of Jordanian exporters prefer not to ship through it as they see that as normalising ties with Israel.
According to the ministry official, total exports of fruits and vegetables reached JD485 million in 2012, while overall agricultural exports, including livestock, stood at JD864 million.
Source: jordantimes.com
