Green Valley Company for import and export aims to increase its exports of agricultural crops to 8,000 tonnes this year, compared with 4,000 tonnes in 2016, to compensate for the increase in the cost of production and to take advantage of the liberalisation of the exchange rate.
Ahmed Yousry, the company’s chairperson, said Green Valley will double its purchases of agricultural crops to provide its needs. The company’s production covers 60% of exports, while it completes the rest through purchasing crops from different farms.
Yousry added that the company will rely on increasing the volume of exports in the markets in which it operates, such as Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, England and France, ruling out entering new markets during 2017.
He pointed out that the Egyptian pound’s flotation increased agricultural crop prices by between 20% and 25% compared to last year due to the increased shipping prices of production inputs by more than 200%.
He explained that air cargo prices rose to EGP 18 and EGP 20 compared to EGP 9 per kilo before the pound’s flotation in November. Maritime shipping also rose from EGP 23,000 to EGP 40,000 per container.
He said that the price of packaging rose from EGP 5 to EGP 10 compared to the pre-flotation price, while the price of containers used in mobilising perishable crops rose from EGP 0.60 to EGP 2.5, as there is only one single plant for its production in Egypt, causing for prices to be controlled, despite the fact that 85% of packaging materials are locally produced.
He criticised EgyptAir for collecting cargo charges in US dollars, while Turkish Airlines collects them in pounds.
He demanded that EgyptAir collect fees in pounds to encourage companies to export and to reduce part of the cost of production.
He pointed out that the company will take advantage of the Fruit Logistics Exhibition to deal with its current customers and increase the amount of exports in the coming period, as well as to contract with new customers.
