Architecture of Trade 2024/2025 – Part 1

Architecture of Trade for Tomato Products, May 2024-April 2025

Moderate increase in volumes, notable contraction in value: these are the characteristics of global tomato products trade in 2024-2025, which consolidate the new “post-Covid” standards.

As evidenced by the export/import statistics published monthly on our website www.tomatonews.com, tomato products trade over the past year (May 2024-April 2025) took place in a context of increasing volumes and decreasing values. According to statistical data collected by Trade Data Monitor (TDM), annual variations were relatively modest, ranging from 0.5% for concentrated tomato purees (customs codes 200290) to 0.9% for sauces and ketchup (customs codes 210320) and up to 2.4% for canned tomatoes (customs codes 200210). However, increases in quantities mobilized were more marked compared to the average levels of the previous three marketing years, reaching 5% for paste and 3% for the other two product categories.

In terms of values (in US dollars), the information collected by TDM from the various national customs services shows that the levels recorded in 2024-2025 remain well above the averages of the previous three years, but also reveal a near-general decline compared to the previous year: the average indicative value of paste traded on the world market thus fell by approximately 11% in 2024-2025, with that of canned products recording a decrease of approximately 3%; only sauces and ketchup maintained an upward trend, by approximately 2% compared to 2023-2024.

The total value of tomato product exports over the period under consideration is estimated at approximately USD 10 billion, approximately 10% higher than the average level of the last three years, but down nearly 6% compared to the period May 2023 – April 2024.

A summary of the turnover generated by the various national sectors for the period May 2024 – April 2025 places Italy at the top of the list of processing and exporting countries of tomato products, with an estimated export revenue of around USD 3.5 billion; Chinese exports generated a figure close to USD 1.1 billion, ahead of those of the USA (USD 0.9 billion), Spain (USD 0.8 billion), Portugal (USD 0.5 billion), Turkey (USD 0.3 billion), Chile (USD 0.3 billion), Poland (USD 0.15 billion), Greece (USD 0.13 billion), etc. (see related articles below).

Global trade in tomato paste has been marked for several years by two concurrent trends, leading to an increase in volumes while simultaneously reducing the influence of the sector’s historical leaders (see additional information at the end of the article). Between May 2024 and April 2025, global trade in concentrated tomato purees (codes 200290) mobilized 3.89 million tonnes of finished products, i.e. 0.5% more than in the same period of the previous year; China, Italy and the United States provided almost two-thirds of global supplies while the Western European Union (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France, etc.), the Middle East (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, etc.), West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Togo, etc.) and the Far East (Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, etc.) accounted for almost two-thirds of the quantities traded.

The following table presents the results of tomato paste exports from the fifteen main processing/exporting countries to each of the sixteen trading regions; these results represent nearly 94% of global trade for the period May 2024 – April 2025.

The slightly upward trend did not affect all destination regions equally: the three main consuming regions (Western EU, Middle East, and West Africa) recorded declines in inflows, which affected the foreign trade of China, Spain, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt; conversely, increases in Central America (Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela) and Latin America (Argentina), the Eastern EU (Poland, Croatia), the Far East (South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines), Mediterranean Africa (Egypt, Libya), and Eurasia (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan) drove the growth of foreign sales for the Chinese, US, and Chilean sectors.

In summary, these last three are among the sectors, along with those of Portugal, Greece, and Hungary, that recorded a significant increase in their export results over the period May 2024 – April 2025. For their part, Italian exports of tomato pastes varied only slightly compared to the previous year; however, customs data show notable declines in Spanish, Iranian, Turkish, and Egyptian activities.

A summary presentation of global trade in tomato pastes in 2024-2025, between the fifteen main processing/exporting countries (left) and the sixteen destination trading regions (right).

Some additional information

Contributions of leading exporting countries to the overall activity of each sector.

The customs statistics tables for the different countries and product categories discussed in this article are available on request from the Tomato News Team.

Find all the topics published under the tag “Markets” by using the category “markets” in our news search module on the TomatoNews website at www.tomatonews.com.

The monthly trade results (exports, imports, pastes, canned tomatoes, quantities, prices) are published on the TomatoNews website for each of the most important countries in each category. Consult them regularly and be among the first to know!

Source: Trade Data Monitor

This article was first published in the 2025 Tomato News Yearbook.