Germany: Trade Figures and Statistics for 1998/2002

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Germany: Trade figures and statistics for 1998/2002

With a population of 82 million in 2001 and a high standard of living, Germany is one of the main consumer platforms for tomato products and a formidable market for tomato processing countries of Europe.

With average overall import volumes of 341200 tonnes annually over the past four years, Germany ranks second among European importers of tomato products, behind the United Kingdom (cf. our article in the April 2003 issue) but well ahead of the Benelux. The UK imported an average of 386000 tonnes per year over the same period of time.

However, Germany remains a major focus for exchange: despite being largely characterized by its import volumes, the German trade balance in tomato products does have a significant export column, with almost 73000 tonnes exported every year from 1998/1999 to 2001/2002.

In the final count, the commercial balance is largely in deficit: annual net imports reach approximately 270000 tonnes. As with many other countries that do not grow tomatoes, the deficit is increasing: between 1998/1999 and 2001/2002, import volumes grew by 23%, whereas exports only increased by 5%.

The German market is currently expanding, but it is important to make distinctions between the different products: imports mostly concern canned tomatoes (peeled, diced, etc. accounting about one third of the total imported) and paste (double- or triple-concentrated, accounting for about 43% of the total). Purées and sauces only account for 7% and 14% respectively of total German purchases. Yet in actual fact, the real drivers of the increase in imports between 1996/1997 and 2001/2002 are purées (88% growth, from 22000 to 40000 tonnes), along with sauces and ketchup (up 21 %, from 49000 to 59000 tonnes), whereas canned products have only grown by 17 % (from 140000 to 164000 tonnes), and paste by 10 % (from 105000 to 115000 tonnes).

As for sourcing, this growth mainly benefits European countries: over the past six years, European countries overall (first and second processing operators) who already virtually controlled the market, have seen their sales volumes in Germany grow by 28% and their market share increase from 91% to 97%. Other supplier countries (mainly Turkey) have seen their share drop from 9% to 3%, with a volume decrease of -57%.

A detailed breakdown of the figures for European suppliers to Germany shows Italy in the first place, as expected. Overall Italian tomato product exports to Germany average almost 246000 tonnes over the past six years, a total progression of 34% between 1996/1997 and 2001/2002. In comparison, imports from Spain, Germany’s second biggest supplier over the past six years with 6% of the market, have only reached an annual average of just over 20000 tonnes. Better still, Italian sales have progressed in all sectors, with remarkable increases for purées (87 %) and paste (63 %). In short, Italy supplies close on three quarters of German imports of tomato products (78 % in 2001/2002).

The Netherlands, which feature major second-processing companies, occupy the second place among suppliers to Germany for 2001/2002, with 5.8 % of the market and a net sales growth that has left Greece behind with less than 10000 tonnes annually.

For obvious reasons of presentation, Italian results are not included in the following chart presenting the details of each country’s trade balance with Germany

This diagram illustrates Germany’s ambition to become a major exchange partner (as it also has several big second-processing companies). Some of its minor buyers (Denmark, Sweden, Finland) are not featured. Logically, Austria, Belgium, the UK and Switzerland are featured, being the four main outlets of reprocessed or re-exported tomato products from Germany. Surprisingly, France is featured – its trade balance with Germany remains annually in deficit by about 15000 tonnes of tomato products.

The following chart presents the contributions of the main AMITOM countries to the total German import volumes.

Noticeably, only the paste and sauces markets are relatively shared out. The dominance of Italian products is obvious in all sectors, particularly canned products and purées.