Exports of olive oil to the U.S. in the first five months of the export season reached 16,500 tons in an increase of 206 percent compared to the same period the previous year, amounting to $67.3 million in value, up 251 percent.

Exports to the U.S., which purchased four liters of every 10 liters of Turkish olive oil sent to 85 countries in this period, surpassed the 2012-2013 season when the export record was broken.

According to information received from the Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters' Association, the record was broken in Turkey's olive oil exports in between Nov. 1, 2012 and Oct. 31, 2013, with 92,000 tons, totaling $292 million.In the first five months of the season starting on Nov.1, 2017, olive oil exports reached 42,265 tons, an increase of 102 percent compared to the same month the previous year, reaching $173 million. Exports in the first five months exceeded the $143 million achieved in the same period of the 2012-2013 season.

Demand from the U.S. led to exports to the country from Nov. 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 experiencing a rise from 5,400 tons to 16,500 tons, an increase of 206 percent, reaching $67.3 million from $19.2 million, a monetary increase of 251 percent.

Export value per liter to the U.S., which was $3 in the 2012-2013 season and $3.5 last season, exceeded $4 per liter.Some 15,800 tons of olive oil had been exported to the U.S. in the 2012-2013 season, yielding revenue of $48.9 million.

Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters' Association Vice Chairman Emre Uygun told Anadolu Agency (AA) that people in 85 countries consume Turkish olive oil.

Uygun said that the rise in export value per liter is good news and drew attention to the increase in per-liter sales to the U.S., Turkey's top market, as sales to the U.S. tripled compared to last year. "Both the increase in our product quantity and the high quality of our products have positively affected our exports to the U.S.," Uygun said.