The forecast for Tunisian dates exports to France

Mr. Helmi Galai, the CEO of GI Fruits, informed that Tunisia set up new barriers to Moroccan Importers to reduce solvability issues of last year. Starting January 2022, every Moroccan importer must provide proof of payment of all shipped dates from Tunisia in 2021. Otherwise, he will find himself blocked and can't import dates from Tunisia. This drastic decision is of great importance as Tunisian authorities predict 5000 MT will be directly affected by these new regulations. Therefore they are considering the French market to absorb this surplus and maintain the balance of the local offer and demand of dates.

Nevertheless, he is not confident about the capacity of the French market to absorb additional 250 containers in less than 3 months as yearly contracts link all importers in France with Tunisian exporters, and the traded quantities are pre-defined. On the other hand, the quality of the crop this year is very poor and didn't meet the European requirements.