The performance of the Tunisian olive oil exports within the new distribution of world demand

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the performance of the Tunisian olive oil exports compared to its main competitors (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Portugal) during the last fifteen years, on the European market and four potential markets: the United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil using the Shift Share Analysis, in order to identify the main sources of change. The period 2011-2015 was a boom period for Tunisia in all studied markets. The gain in Tunisian competitiveness on the new markets (Canada, Japan and Brazil) is related to the growth of their global imports and the competitiveness of Tunisian exports reinforced by the superior quality of Tunisian extra virgin olive oil and the recourse to packaged oil. The results indicate that the maintenance of a sustainable international competitiveness of Tunisia on the olive oil market depends on its domestic production and that of its European competitors, to which is added recently the Turkish competition, policies and trade agreements that must be negotiated and requires the improvement of its non-price competitiveness.