The price of olive oil in Syria has risen by 150% this year compared to 2004, with the price of a kilo of good quality olive oil now reaching about 160 Syrian pounds, compared to 65 Syrian pounds last year. The main reasons for the increase are firstly monopoly, secondly higher production costs and climate change, and thirdly the amount of unpackaged olive oil exported to Italy and Spain is still very small. 2004 Syrian olive oil production was about 170,000 tons, and it is estimated that the local consumption is about 100,000 tons, and about 70,000 tons of surplus can be exported, but the actual amount of olive oil exported in 2004 was not more than 30,000 tons, and the majority of which was unpackaged. Most of it was exported unpackaged to Italy, Spain and other countries, and a very small portion of it was packaged and sold to the United States, the Gulf States, Russia, Georgia and Iran, among other countries.

The sources pointed out that the sales of olive oil in Syria are mainly affected by the following factors:

(1) There is no responsible body to organize the sales of this product.

(2) Most of the businessmen operating in the olive oil trade do not have sufficient knowledge and experience regarding the standards of olive oil.

(3) The filtration and storage processes of most producers are not standardized, to the detriment of the quality of the olive oil.

(4) There are no specialized factories for the production of containers such as glass bottles of high standards.

(5) There are not enough stainless steel storage cabinets to store surplus olive oil.

(6) There are no trade agreements that include olive oil exports. Syria is trying to get cooperation with Tunisia and the EU on olive oil.