An Economic Study on Tomatoes Export Competitiveness in Egypt

Vegetables export in general and tomatoes crop in particular are facing serious challenges in Egypt with regards to declining competitiveness in global markets in addition to some other challenges related to the ability to penetrate global markets and the variation in prices for different importing countries. This is in addition to the variation in demand conditions in importing markets. Through reviewing the competitiveness indicators for this crop. the paper shows that the quantity and value of tomato exports was highly fluctuating during the period under investigation. The lowest value was recorded in 2000 and amounted to 1.7 thousand tons. The maximum value was recorded in 2013 and amounted 74.8 thousand tons. Since then. the variable showed high fluctuation until 2018 where the quantity exported reached 41.8 thousand tons. The exporting value also was fluctuating. It reached its lowest in 2000 and amounted to 454 thousand dollars while the maximum reached around 728.7 thousand in 2015. The value decreased to 488.6 thousand in 2018 while the tomato exports also fluctuated since 2000 till 2007 and reached its maximum in 2017 with around $1513 /tons. The value showed a fluctuating trend where it reached around $1169/ton. The Saudi market dominated the market with around 37.16% of total Egyptian tomatoes exports. whether fresh or frozen. The paper also shows that the export competitiveness index for tomatoes during the mentioned period is above unity which means there is clear export competitiveness in global markets. The average index value reached around 1.33. which means that this crop is one of the very important crops that efficiently competes in the global markets.The paper finally shows the penetration parameter is weak and that there is minimal increase in this indicator. This means that there is a possibility to increase exported quantities from tomatoes through studying the reasons behind the fluctuations and design some policies and export mechanisms that can improve export competitiveness and penetration rates.