Al Samoon targets EGP 20m of exports in 2019
Beans account for 70% of annual contract volume, company eyes expansion in Africa
Al Samoon for Export & Foreign Trade aims to boost its exports to EGP 20m during the current year, compared to EGP 11m last year, with an increase of 82%.
Ayman Alsamoon, chairperson of the company, said that exports last year reached EGP 11m through 500 tonnes.
He explained that the company has completed the establishment of a new packaging station at a cost of EGP 5m in the Delingat area in Beheira governorate with a capacity of 25-35 tonnes. Al Samoon for Export & Foreign Trade has another station of 1015 tonnes.
The company exports a basket of products to the Middle East, including beans, lentils, sesame, coriander,and peanuts.Beans account for 70% of total exports. Al Samoon for Export & Foreign Trade plans to enter Africa this year.
Alsamoon said that sesame, white beans and coriander, are some of the most sought after food products abroad due to the quality and prices offered by the Egyptian market, compared to the products offered by competitive markets.
Furthermore, he explained that the weather fluctuations witnessed by Egypt during the current year affected the supply of crops, especially white beans, which raised prices to EGP 23 per kilogram compared to EGP 19 last year.
Notably, caraway sales also fell by 50% despite price cuts,as supply has increased while demand was stable. Sesame as well experienced fluctuations in prices compared to other products during the last year, highlighted the company chairperson.
Moreover, he referred to the crises facing the export of agricultural crops, most notably the lack of appreciation of the dollar exchange rate, which affected the prices of shipping and the total expenses of agriculture in general, including the prices of fertilisers and pesticides.
“The high cost of production forced farmers to use poor pesticide types, which impacted exports, and forced several markets in Gulf countries to prohibit Egyptian products because they do not meet international standards,” Alsamoon added.
In addition, the monopolisation of products by businesspersons and raising their prices resulted in the reluctance by some countries to purchase Egyptian products as prices became higher than other exporters from different countries.
Alsamoon elaborated that the slow customs release of trucks in ports is one of the most prominent problems for exporters, as along with the delay of shipping agencies in despatching, which increases the cost of storage rent.
He added that the support of Egyptian banks of the export of agricultural crops and the initiative of Banque Misr to provide distinctive financing services that correspond to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)is a good opportunity to be implemented for the development of the export sector.
The size of the revenues of the SMEs supported by Banque Misr ranges between EGP 1m to EGP 20m. Companies are allowed to receive loans of 5% declining interest, as well as financial advice, in order to establish strong and constructive foundations.
THE COMPANY COMPLETED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW PACKAGING STATION AT A COST OF EGP 5M