Greece is a leader in many food and beverage sectors in Albanian imports, and maintains a significant presence in various product categories such as aluminium, iron and steel, plastics and manufactured goods, paper and cardboard, construction materials, machinery and equipment and components, among others.
This is stated in the «Business Guide for Albania 2020» of the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Greek Embassy in Tirana, while the following categories are mentioned indicatively, in which there is either a significant presence of Greek products, or prospects for further activity by Greek companies:
Food and Beverages Division
Greek food and beverage products have an important position in the Albanian market. In particular, the best performing product categories are: fresh fruits and vegetables, vegetable preparations, fresh fish, live pigs and poultry, beer, citrus fruits and tobacco.
The total value of imported products in the category «food, beverages, tobacco» in Albania in 2019, amounted to about 890 million euros, i.e. 17% of the total Albanian imports. The value of Greek exports of food and beverages was about 127 million euros and a share of 13.5% of the total Albanian imports in these products.
The total Albanian imports of agri-food products are mainly shared by Italy (18%) and Greece (14%), followed by Serbia (7%), Russia (5.5%), Turkey (5%), Germany and Poland with shares of 4.5% and Brazil with 4%.
Cheese, although the main Greek export, occupies only 8% of imported products, with Germany (35%) and Italy (32%) being the main competitors.
The wine market is dominated by Italy (75%), while competition with Italian wines is particularly fierce, both because of their prices and because they are firmly established in the minds of the Albanian consumer as high quality and «life style» products. Consequently, the penetration of Greek wines requires targeted promotion and promotion activities.
The import of Greek wines into Albania is mainly carried out by two large Greek or expatriate companies. The significant decrease of Greek wine imports from 2016 onwards is due, among other things, to the transfer of the Greek-owned CARREFOUR chain from the Marinopoulos Group to the Albanian Balfin Group, which affected Greek food imports in Albania in general.
However, Greek beer exports amounted to €8.71 million and ranked 1st in the relevant category with 37% share in Albanian imports, followed by Italian and German imports with 24% and 17%, respectively.
88% of imported olive oil (S.O. code 1509) comes from two countries: Italy (59.7%) and Greece (28.5%). Greece dominates in margarines (HS code 1517) with 90.36% and has significant shares in other fats and oils.
However, regardless of the dynamic presence of Greek agri-food products in the Albanian market, it should be noted that agriculture is a priority sector of the Albanian government, with an increasing contribution to the country's GDP and a significant contribution to employment and Albanian exports.
Therefore, apart from the good performance of Greek exports, there is scope for further bilateral cooperation in areas of related services, such as transfer of know-how in modern cultivation methods, the use of IT applications in the agricultural sector, plant protection and integrated crop management, accredited analyses as a tool for the development of modern agricultural production, etc.
Also, the possibility of developing complementary crops could be mutually beneficial for Greece and Albania, such as, for example, the cultivation of agricultural products in Albania, which could be used as raw materials for the production of animal feed in Greece. The possibility of co-production of products through joint ventures could also be explored, in order for these products to penetrate larger markets that Greek production alone is unable to cover due to its size.
Raw materials and chemical products
The presence of Greek imported products in the categories of S.O. 25 - 29 is strong, except for fossil fuels (27). Albania supplies several codes from Greece, at 4-digit level of detail, exclusively (100%), almost exclusively (75% and above) or to a significant extent (20% and above). The total value of Albanian imports of the above product categories (S.O. 25, 26, 28, 29), in 2018 amounted to EUR 58.8 million, (EUR 59.4 million in 2017), so that, Greece occupies the 2nd place (EUR 9.1 million and 15.5%) after Italy (28.8%). The remaining 77% of the Albanian market is occupied by: China (10.2%), Turkey (8.6%), and B. Macedonia (8.2%).
Of the total of the above imports, hydraulic cements (2523 - clinkers), internationally one of the main Greek exported products, constitute 28% of Albanian imports with €12 million. Albania supplies hydraulic cements mainly from three countries: Italy (61%), Turkey (20%) and Greece (18%). The Greek-owned company ANTEA (TITAN Group) is active in Albania, with significant production, serving not only the domestic market, but also clinker and cement exports to Egypt, Montenegro, Libya and Italy.
Pharmaceutical products
Pharmaceutical products (CN 30), occupy an important position in Albanian imports with a total value of 195 million euros in 2019, i.e. 3.74% of total imports. The value of Greek exports amounted to about 10.87 million euros and a share of 5.5% of the total value of imported pharmaceutical products, making Greece the 7th main supplier of the country. Main countries of origin of pharmaceutical products in Albania in 2018 were: Italy (13%), Germany (13%), Turkey (11.8%), Switzerland (11.5%), Slovenia (8%), and France (7.5%).
It should be noted that the change in legislation at the beginning of 2015, regarding the import of medicines into Albania, affected Greek exports, causing fluctuations in the three years 2014-2016. Specifically, in the context of the registration procedure in the list of imported medicines, the implementation of a new methodology for the pricing of pharmaceutical products, as of 1.1.2015, created a barrier for certain categories of medicines, especially for established products that have been available for decades in the country of origin. The new methodology provides for a comparison with the marketing prices of these products in the countries of origin, not taking into account the costs of promotion in a new market, which makes it unprofitable for companies to export these products to Albania.
Given the fact that there are companies operating in the health sector in Albania, where several Greek doctors are employed, it is estimated that there is room for improving the share of Greek pharmaceutical products in the Albanian market.
Building materials
As stated in the Guide, studying the list that includes the 4-digit statistical analysis of Albanian imports, it is evident that Greek construction materials have a significant share in the total of imported products in Albania.
Indicatively, it is mentioned that in the two-digit category 39 Plastics and plastic articles, Greek exports in 2019 amounted to 20.83 million euros, down by 16.31TTP3T compared to 2018. Greece occupies the 2nd place in this category, with Italy in 1st place with 54.37 million euros, China in 3rd place with 20.22 million euros , Turkey in 4th place with 19.61 million euros and Germany in 5th place with 14.91 million euros.
The main subcategory of Greek exports is 3923 «Transport or packing goods, of plastics. Stoppers, caps and lids» with exports worth EUR 6,65 million. This is followed by the four-digit 3920 «Other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip of plastics» with EUR 3.33 million, 3921 «Other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip of plastics» with EUR 3.04 million, and 3917 «Tubes, pipes and hoses and their fittings of plastics» with EUR 1.32 million.
Regarding category 32 «Dyeing and dyeing extracts, gilding and varnishes» with a value of 10.07 million euros in 2019 (+6.9% compared to 2018), Greek exports dominate the total exports to Albania, followed by imports from Italy worth 9.37 million euros and from Turkey, with 2.66 million euros. The most dominant subcategory in Greek exports is 3209 «Paints and varnishes based on synthetic polymers or modified natural polymers» with €5.26 million, followed by 3208 «Paints and varnishes based on synthetic polymers or modified natural polymers» with €1.93 million. This is followed by: 3214 «Glass putty, resin putty and other mastics» for EUR 1,09 million and 3204 «Synthetic organic colouring matter of a chemically defined composition» for EUR 530 000.
Also, Greek iron and steel (CN 72 & 73) and aluminium (CN 76) products have an important position, where in several 4-digit codes Greek products either have a leading position or significant shares of the corresponding total Albanian imports.
The 2nd main category of Greek exported products is 72 «Iron and steel», where Greece is the 2nd most important supplier of Albania with exports of 31.88 million euros, up by 1.021 ttpa3T compared to 2018.
Albania's first supplier is Turkey, with exports amounting to €43.65 million, while Tunisia is in 3rd place with €25.53 million and North Macedonia in 4th place with €19.44 million.
The largest four-digit subcategory in Greek exports was 7214 «Bars and rods of iron or steel» with €20.62 million, followed in second place by «7210 Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, clad with other metal» with €3.21 million.
Exports of 7216 «Articles of iron in alloy steel» amounted to Euro 2.93 million, of 7217 «Iron alloy wire» to Euro1.38 million and 7208 «Structures and parts of cast iron, iron or steel plates, rods, tubes and pipes» followed with Euro 1 million.
At the same time, Greek exports of the two-digit category 76 «Aluminium and aluminium articles» amounted to 10.89 million euros, a decrease of 0.811 ttpa3T compared to 2018 and ranked 2nd among the main importing countries. The 1st place was occupied by Italy with 13.67 million euros, the 3rd by Turkey with 7.58 million euros and the 4th by China with 6.79 million euros.
Greek exports of category 7601 «Aluminium» amounted to €5 million, followed by 7604 «Aluminium bars and rods and articles of specified shapes» with €2.95 million, 7612 «Tanks, casks, drums, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers, of aluminium» with €1.90 million and 7610 «Aluminium plates and strips, thin, of a thickness not exceeding 0.2 mm» with €730 thousand.
Finally, Greek exports of category 73 «Articles of iron or steel» declined by 38.82% in 2019 and amounted to 9.84 million euros.
The main subheading is 7308 «Articles of cast iron, iron or steel, plates, rods, angles, shapes and sections, tubes and pipes» with EUR 5,80 million, followed by 7306 «Other tubes and pipes of iron or steel» with EUR 620 thousand. Italy with exports of €44 million leads this category, followed by China with €33.51 million, with Turkey in 3rd place (€14.54 million) and Greece in 4th place.
Textiles
The products of the textile category (CN 61, 62, 63) rank in the top 10 positions in terms of the value of Albanian imports, with a total value of €297 million, corresponding to more than 5%. Albania's main suppliers, apart from Greece, are Italy with €117.7 million (39.6% of total imports), Turkey with €80.7 million (27.2%) and China with €42.3 million (14.2%).
Greek branded ready-to-wear enterprises could explore the possibilities of further cooperation with Albanian enterprises in the field of fascine, as the processing of garments for third parties in Albania is particularly developed due to low labour costs. This is a traditionally important sector of the Albanian economy, with more than 20 years of experience, as after the economic transformation in the early 1990s, the domestic textile industry concentrated on the production of fascons for important companies in the West of the country. .
Boilers, machines, devices, components
Total Albanian imports of 2-digit CN categories 84 and 85 in 2019 amounted to around €780 million.
These imports, which rank in the top three of Albanian imports, account for 15% of the total value of imports into Albania. 27% of the imports of the two categories come from Italy, 21% from China, while other main suppliers are Germany (6%) and Turkey (7%). The USA, Greece and France follow with a share of around 3% each.
Despite the low share of Greece in these categories, compared to Albania's main suppliers, it is noted that CN code 84 «Boilers, machinery and appliances» ranks 9th in terms of the total value of Greek imported products in Albania, with 16 million euros, down by 3.4% compared to 2018. The most important subcategories are 8419 «Appliances and devices, non-electric instantaneous water heaters, instantaneous» with 2.62 million euros, 8431 «Parts for machines» with 1.28 million euros, 8415 «Artificial climate machines for changing temperature and humidity», with 1.019 million euros and 8403 «Boilers for central heating» with 980 thousand euros.
