By Gavin Gibbon

More of this topic

Posted inPolitics & Economics

Saudi dates exports up 27% in first half of 2019

Dates exports from the kingdom for the first six months reach $153 million

By Gavin Gibbon
Khalas, Sukkari and Safawi kinds of dates were in highest demand with export opportunities available to the US, France, the UAE, Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia and Britain.
Khalas, Sukkari and Safawi kinds of dates were in highest demand with export opportunities available to the US, France, the UAE, Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia and Britain.

Exports of Saudi dates increased by 27 percent in the first half of 2019 to reach SR574 million ($153m).

This compares to more than 163,000 tons and SR758m ($202m) worth of exports for the entire 2018.

According to figures from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), the value of Saudi exports jumped by 31.2 percent from 2015 to 2017 to hit SR199.1m ($53m), compared to SR579.8m ($154.6m) in 2016 and SR535.7m ($142.8m) in 2015.

It said the Khalas, Sukkari and Safawi kinds of dates were in highest demand with export opportunities available to the US, France, the UAE, Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia and Britain.

Saudi exports dates to over 60 countries across the world including the GCC, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Britain and India.

The report also said there are 157 licensed factories for dates packaging and processing, with a total financing exceeding SR1.537 billion ($409.8m) and an estimated production of 789 tons. It added that there are 18,588 workers in the dates factories.

Follow us on

For all the latest business news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.