In a pdf that provides an overview of production, consumption, import, and export of various edible oils, the United States Department of Agriculture predicts that worldwide production of olive oil for the 2017/18 harvest year will be 2.7 million metric tons, with Spain’s decreased production due to drought “likely to be offset by growth in other producers.”
A new contest in Greece sponsored by the Friends of Olive Oil (FILAIOS) focuses on innovation in the Greek olive oil world (not on olive oil quality, but on innovation at all stages, "from the fields to the shelves").
"Dry conditions over the last six months in Greece have created anxiety in the olive oil industry over yield this season. Producers are reporting, however, that their production might be better than expected."
Greeks hope the upcoming enforcement of a law requiring use of bottled and branded olive oil on restaurant tables will bring Greek extra virgin olive oil more of the recognition it deserves worldwide. This article mentions an Athens event that will discuss this, among other topics.
Vassilis Zampounis writes in Olive News (so far only in Greek) that olive oil prices seemed higher than last year in Greece as of October 23. However, the recent rains in Greece were generally beneficial for both olive oil quantity and quality. There is evidence, for example in Spain, that the market expects a gradual price decline. Spain's production, though, is expected to be a modest 1.1 to 1.15 million metric tons this harvest year, with some quality problems. Other Mediterranean countries, including Tunisia with 300,000 tons forecast, will have to compensate for Spain's shortfall.
This newsletter covers olive oil and table olive imports in Brazil, the October IOC Advisory Committee meeting, and world trade in olive oil and table olives, including producer prices in major exporting countries. Some highlights: In the first 11 months of the 2016/17 crop year, there was a noteworthy increase in olive oil and olive pomace oil imports in Brazil (21%) and China (13%), as well as a 20% increase in Australian imports through July. Imports slightly decreased in the USA and Canada. Producer prices have remained stable in Spain in recent weeks, around 19% higher than last year. Italian prices have been decreasing but remain 7% higher than last year. Prices have increased slightly in Greece, coming to 32% higher than last year, while Tunisian prices have been falling but are still 14% higher than last year. (Comparisons are all between the end of October in 2017 and 2016.)
This is Isabel Putinja's interesting, concise summary of a 12-page European Parliament report (available in full here) focused on the European Union olive and olive oil sector, including a number of statistics, for example about how much is produced, imported, and exported where.
This newsletter provides provisional data for olive oil production in the 2016/17 crop year, according to the IOC Statistics Working Group, which expected total worldwide production of 2,538,000 metric tons, or a 20% decrease compared to the preceding crop year. For example, production was expected to come to 1,283,600 tons in Spain (-8.5%), 195,000 in Greece (39%), 182,300 in Italy (-62%), 177,000 in Turkey (+24%), 110,000 in Morocco (-15%), and 100,000 in Tunisia (-29%). Country data and IOC Executive Secretariat estimates for 2017/18 worldwide production called for 2,854,000 metric tons, or 12% more than the previous year, although the report indicates that more solid estimates will come at the end of November. Spain was expecting 1,150,000 metric tons of olive oil (-10%), Italy 320,000 (+75%), Greece 300,000 (+54%), Tunisia 220,000 (+120%), Turkey 180,000 (+2%), Morocco 120,000 (+9%), and Portugal 110,000 (+58%). The newsletter also provides table olive production estimates for the 2017/18 crop year and reports on world trade in olive oil and table olives and producer prices.
Vassilis Zampounis's latest estimates for olive oil production in the major olive oil producing countries in the upcoming crop year, from his online Olive News publication.
In this article in Olive News, Vassilis Zampounis provides the latest predictions for the upcoming crop year's olive oil production in Greece. Most areas in Greece expect an increase in production compared to the 2016/17 crop year.
The June newsletter covers the following topics: olive oil import trends in China, the International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) proposal that the World Customs Organization consider “aligning the customs headings with the definitions established in the IOC standard for olive oils and olive-pomace oils, providing a definition for each heading,” world trade in olive oil and table olives, and olive oil producer prices. Imports in olive oil and olive pomace oil have increased by 36% in Brazil, 32% in Australia, 17% in China, 8% in Canada, and 4% in Japan in the first 7 months of the current harvest year, compared with last year. Producer prices for extra virgin olive oil have decreased a bit in recent weeks in Spain, Italy, and Tunisia, while remaining stable in Greece. Prices in Italy are 66% higher than last year, and approximately 30% higher than last year in the other three main producing countries.
Here are some of the first predictions for the next olive oil season, from Vassilis Zampounis in Olive News.
A new project will develop quality control and production techniques to aid producers while educating consumers about high-phenolic olive oil's health benefits and certifying those health benefits.
Includes “an update of the figures sent by the member countries for 2015/16 (definitive) and 2016/17 (provisional)” on worldwide olive and olive oil production, consumption, and trade, as well as producer price movements in olive oil. The IOC estimates that worldwide olive oil production in 2016/17 “will decrease by approximately 20% compared to the previous crop year,” with European producers down by 25%, Spain producing 8% less than last year, Italy 61% less, and Greece 39% less. For this crop year it is expected that “world consumption will exceed production by 13%.” Producer prices at the end of May showed increases of 36% for Spain in comparison with the same time one year earlier, 66% for Italy, and 30% for Greece, although Spain’s late May price is 6% less than the “maximum price in the third week of August 2015” (important since Spain produced 50% of the world’s olive oil this year). One good point: “The representatives of both the olive oil and the table olive sectors predicted a year-on-year increase in production in 2017/18. The current flowering conditions point to a good crop in most producer countries provided the favourable climatic conditions continue.”
The International Olive Council's (IOC's) Market Newsletter for April 2017 discusses olive growing and olive oil production, consumption, and exports in Italy and then provides more general information about the following: selected olive oil imports worldwide (with large increases in Australia, Brazil, and China); table olive imports; and producer prices in the main olive oil producing countries (considerably higher than in the same period last year, especially in Italy, but less so in Greece).
This is a report on what was discussed at the meeting in Rome from May 23 to 26, 2017.
Vassilis Zambounis discusses recent prices for Mediterranean olive oil and varying predictions for price changes in the coming months.
Vassilis Zampounis writes in Greek in Olive News that “international consumption triumphs” over difficulties in the olive oil world. As he shows in a chart with his Greek article on the subject, the main olive oil importing countries “are showing excellent behavior, significantly increasing consumption …despite rising prices, offsetting any problems” with decreasing consumption “in Mediterranean countries…and presaging exciting developments.” Specifically, Zampounis reports, “imports (consumption) rose by 73% in Australia, 37% in Brazil, 31.5% in China, nearly 20% in Canada, 16% in Japan and 4.5% in the US” from October 2016 to January 2017.
At a conference organized by the Society of Olive and Olive Oil Products of Certified Quality (EL3P) at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) on March 23, experts focused on olive and olive oil quality and the current situation of the Greek olive oil industry.
This article is in Greek, but as it offers an important update on Spanish olive oil production, I summarize it here. Vassilis Zampounis reports in Olive News that the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture announced Spain’s latest olive oil production figures, as of the end of February, for the 2016/17 harvest year. Zampounis reports that February output in Spain was 156,578 metric tons, so that the entire 2016/17 marketing year reaches 1,229,289 metric tons in that country. With little more expected in March, the target of 1.3 million tons will only be approached, but not achieved. Even so, Zampounis suggests that with the end of uncertainty about Spanish production, the markets should now be calmed.