According to EastFruit analysts, the sharp devaluation of the Egyptian pound, which, by the way, we warned about in advance, is having a noticeable impact on the potato market in Europe.
On March 6, 2024, the Egyptian government let the official exchange rate of the local currency freely fluctuate, which led to an increase in the U.S. dollar value against the Egyptian pound by more than 61 percent in just one day. Overall, in the past two years Egyptian currency has depreciated more than three-fold.
The devaluation coincided with the season of active potato exports from Egypt. Since potatoes are one of the country’s main export crops, and in Europe potato prices are breaking all records, the devaluation for this market came just at the right time. This allowed for some reduction of the tense situation with potato shortage and prevented further price increases for now.
Egypt is one of the top five largest global potato exporters, supplying these products to a large number of countries around the world. The main markets for Egyptian potatoes are Russia, the European Union, the UAE, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria. At the same time, potatoes from Egypt are supplied even to such distant countries as Indonesia. However, in the current season, due to the Houthi terror in the Red Sea, additional difficulties arise with exports of potatoes, which makes exporting them from Egypt to the EU countries even more attractive.