1H : Food exports up 15.7%

Manufacturers Association's Food Industries Association chairman Ron Kobrovsky said last week that in the first half of 2005 food exports rose by 15.7% to $343.4 million.
 
Food exports to the US were 20% higher than in the first half of 2004, and to the EU were 14% higher.
 
He added that the increase in food exports can be attributed to the growing demand for speciality Israeli foods, and to dedicated marketing efforts made by exporters to increase exports.
 
Kobrovsky noted however that food imports in the first half of 2005 rose by 10% to $538.2 million.
 
Kobrovsky, the managing director of Central Bottling Company (Coca-Cola Israel),noted that food imports exceeded exports by $195 million in the first half of 2005 he predicted also that if food imports continue to grow in same rate, they would exceed food exports by $420 million this year.
 
An analysis made by the Manufacturers Association's Food Industries Association shows that in the first half exports of fruits and vegetables rose by 30% to $103 million, dairy products rose by 149% to $13.7 million, baked goods rose by 25.5% to $27.5 million, meat and poultry rose by 12% to $27 million, wine and alcoholic beverage rose by 9% to $7.4 million, and chocolate rose by 31% to $5.5 million.
 
An analysis of food imports in the first half of the year shows that imports from the EU was up by 23% to $322 million, while imports from the US fell 35% to $97 million and food imports from Jordan was up by 54% to $700,000.
 
Food imports from Turkey, however, was down 20% to $16 million, and from Egypt fell by 13% to $1.8 million.