Daraa – Halim Muhammad
The olive oil markets in Daraa governorate, southern Syria, are experiencing stagnation, despite a 40% drop in oil prices and a 50% decrease in olive fruit prices compared to rates in November 2024 (the start of the olive pressing season).
In January, the price of a tin of oil (16 kilograms) reached 600,000 Syrian pounds (approximately $50), down from over one million pounds, while the price of olives fell from 12,000 pounds per kilogram (about $1) to 6,000 pounds (about $0.50).
Stagnation in sales
Enab Baladi has reported that farmers are unable to sell tins of oil either to presses or merchants, while the presses in Daraa continue to receive olives, despite usually closing around this time each year.
The owner of an oil press in the western Daraa countryside told Enab Baladi that merchants are fearful of a continued downturn and further drops in oil prices.
He added that the problem lies in the difficulty of disposing of the product, weak purchasing power among residents, and abundant production by farmers.
Jamal al-Masalma, head of the Daraa Agriculture Chamber, attributed the stagnation to the government’s imposition of customs fees on the export of oil, vegetables, and fruits, which has impacted the trade market, including olive oil.
Al-Masalma stated to Enab Baladi that Syrian oil is among the highest quality oils sought worldwide, especially in the Gulf countries.
Alaa al-Zoubi, director of Daraa Agriculture, told Enab Baladi that the decline in external demand for olive oil, the decrease in vegetable oil prices, and the inability of citizens to afford products are the main reasons for the stagnation in the local olive oil market.
The farmer awaits
Farmer Mustafa Abu Layla in the town of Tel Shihab believes that the drop in oil prices is due to the inability to sell it, which has reduced farmers’ profit margins.
He noted that he has been unable to sell the oil produced from his land, which spans 20 dunams.
He added that the cost of harvesting is high, reaching 1,400 pounds for gathering a kilogram of olives, along with transportation costs to the press, which do not fall below 400,000 pounds.
Meanwhile, the price of an empty tin has reached 50,000 pounds, and presses charge 700 pounds for processing each kilogram.
The farmer told Enab Baladi that he is waiting to sell his oil production to pay off the press and labor costs, but the market situation is unhelpful.
Despite the abundant production this season, last year’s season proved to be more profitable, as he sold a tin for 1.1 million pounds (about $91).
The costs extend beyond harvesting and processing; farmers spend 100,000 pounds for irrigation of their crops, along with rising prices for fertilizers and pesticides and land tilling expenses.
Table olives turned into oil
After the price drop for table olive varieties like “Abu Shoka” and “Mawi,” many farmers resorted to pressing them, despite their lower oil yield.
Kifah al-Rifai, an olive farmer in Tel Shihab, informed Enab Baladi that producing a tin of oil requires about 230 kilograms of “Abu Shoka” olives, while other varieties made for pressing yield at most 90 kilograms.
Following the decline in olive prices in the market, farmers turned to pressing their olives in hopes of better future oil prices, planning to store their production.
The influx of table olives into the oil presses has also delayed the closure of presses, according to press owners in Daraa.
Ali al-Sabihi, a worker at a press in western Daraa, indicated that presses usually close at the beginning of January each year, but this year they continue to process the farmers’ harvests, primarily from table olives.
According to the director of Daraa Agriculture, the number of olive trees in the governorate totals three million, out of six million before 2011. The director anticipates the production of 28,000 tons of olive fruit, with two-thirds allocated for pressing and the remaining third sold as table olives.
In recent years, olive harvests have been affected by the drying up of water sources in Daraa, even though olive trees are more drought-resistant than other crops and can be irrigated twice during the summer, provided that the land is regularly tilled to maintain soil moisture, according to an investigation by Enab Baladi/Syria Indicator.