Portuguese companies concerned over falling exports over Middle East conflict

As if the Ukraine conflict wasn’t bad enough, some 933 Portuguese exporters have now been caught in the Middle East crossfire according to an exclusive report by the online news source Eco.

Israeli clients are said to have postponed business trips and have cut orders in food sectors; not good news considering sales to Israel were worth €441.7 million in 2022.
According to data from AICEP, there are around 933 companies (excluding companies registered under one name) that sell to Israel.
Last year, Portuguese companies sold merchandise worth €441.7 million to Israel, which was a growth of 27.1% like-for-like. Portuguese purchases of goods produced in Israel topped €116 million, up 40% on 2021.
Nevertheless, the trade balance is in Portugal’s favour with an import/export rate of 378.5%.
The number of companies exporting to Israel has increased over the past five years compared to 855 in 2018 but in terms of market share It is only the 24th destination for Portuguese exports, representing under 1% of total exports (0.56%) while it comes in 58th place as a supplier. (0.11%).
On the other hand, Portugal comes in 34th place as a supplier to Israel with a 0.5% market share, occupying 47th place in the rank of Israeli clients (0.15% of the total).
Portugal’s agriculture sector sells the most to Israel (€220 million in 2022), particularly in livestock with 11 out of 15 exporters to Israel on the list selling cattle and sheep from the Alentejo. Other exports from Portugal included paper and paper paste, machinery and devices, common metals, foodstuffs, plastic and rubber, and wood and cork.
Some of the main exporting companies are Celbi and Navigator (paper and paper pulp), Urbexpansão (livestock) and Monte do Pasto. (livestock)
In an interview with TSF, the president of Portugal’s export bureau AICEP, Filipe Santos Costa said that there was a “great compatibility between the Portuguese economy and the Israeli economy that ranges from agriculture to startups”.

Image: Raimond Klavins na Unsplash