Algeria produces two types of margarine: table margarine, which is used in baking and cooking, and margarine for puff pastry, which is used in the production of confectionery and snacks. In 2021, Algeria produced 4.9 thousand tons of margarine, while consumption amounted to 50.4 thousand tons.
It is worth noting that the growth rate of production in 2017-2021 exceeded the growth rate of consumption — 2.7% per year versus 4.5%, respectively. The level of self—sufficiency in margarine in Algeria in 2021 remained at a low level - less than 10%.
Margarine is popular in Algeria among both consumers and food producers. In the structure of consumption of cooking fats in value terms, the share of margarine in 2021 was 53.1%, while butter — 32.0%. In the structure of margarine consumption in 2021, retail trade accounted for the largest share (96.2%) through sales channels.
The key players in the Algerian margarine market are Cevital and LaBelle Groupe. Cevital is the country's largest conglomerate, which accounted for almost half of the country's margarine market in 2021 — 47.4%. The LaBelle trading group occupied about 15.6% of the market.
In total, the two companies accounted for more than 60% of the margarine market of the country by the end of 2021. Imported products occupy a significant share of the Algerian margarine market. In 2021, margarine imports amounted to 46.1 thousand tons for 52.7 million US dollars. Despite a slight increase in imports in physical terms in 2021 (+12.4% by 2020), the volume of value imports showed an increase of 65.5%.
During 2017-2021, margarine imports on average decreased by 5.2% annually in physical terms, however, at the same time, they grew by 0.9% in value.
The overwhelming share of Algerian margarine imports in 2021 was made up of other fat mixtures — this position accounted for 99.6% of imports in physical terms and 99.3% in value. The share of the category "margarine, except liquid" remained insignificant during 2017-2021. It is also worth noting that this category showed an annual average decline in both physical and value terms, unlike imports of other fat mixtures, where the value volume showed an average annual growth rate of 0.9% per year.
During 2017-2021, Indonesia was the main margarine exporting country to Algeria - the country's share in the total volume of margarine supplies to the Algerian market exceeded 70% in kind and 65% in value terms. In 2021 Indonesia exported 33.7 thousand tons of margarine worth 35.1 million US dollars to Algeria.
Malaysia took the second place at the end of 2021 with shipments of 8.1 thousand tons (17.5% of imports in kind). Margarine was also supplied to Algeria by Spain — 1.7 thousand tons (3.7%), Singapore — 1.4 thousand tons (3.0%) and Turkey 0.7 thousand tons (1.6%). The share of other countries was insignificant.
The cost structure of Algerian margarine imports by key suppliers in 2021 was identical to the structure in kind — Indonesia also became the largest exporter (66.7%). Malaysia took the second place (20.9%). Despite only a slight increase in Malaysia's exports in 2021 in physical terms (+8.6%), value exports have almost doubled.
In 2021, the average import price per ton of other fat mixtures in Algeria was US$ 1,140, an increase of 47.6% relative to 2020.
Among the largest supplier countries, the most expensive products were imported from France (US$ 2,924/ton). The cheapest products came from Indonesia (US$ 1,044/ton) and Singapore (US$ 1,222/ton).
The average import price for margarine, except liquid, amounted to US$ 2,247 / ton, an increase of 17.1% compared to 2020. The most expensive products came from France — US$ 2,357 / ton, which is 4.9% higher than the average import price. The cheapest products were from Turkey at a price of 1,594 US dollars/ton — 29% lower than the average import price.
