Estimates of 63.000 Tons of Olive Production in Lattakia

Lattakia, (ST)-  Director of Lattakia Agriculture Directorate, Munzir Kheir Beik, estimated olive production expected this season in the governorate at 63,000 tons, including 15,000 tons for oil extraction.

Mr. Kheir Beik said in a statement that olive production in the last season was 170,000 tons of olives, 40,000 tons of which were for oil extraction.

He indicated that the Lattakia production of olives makes 17 % of Syria’s production, with the number of olive trees in Lattakia covering 9 % of the total number of olive trees planted across the country, according to statistics in 2011.

He put the exact number of olive trees planted in Lattakia at 10,665 covering an area of 49,504 hectares.

Olive oil prices rose dramatically recently as they amounted to SP 10-15 per 16 liter, compared to SP 2500-3500 last year.

Head of Secretariat at the Agriculture Directorate, Zuheir Akkari, attributed the rise in oil price to the fact that some dealers have been buying oil from citizens in order to either export it or store it and then sell it at higher prices.

He also added that the oil stored in Aleppo and Idleb provinces has been smuggled to Turkey, which led to a high export rate of the oil amounts in the coastal and other governorates.

Sh. Kh.