22 avril 2021

For the second consecutive year, all the actors of the Spanish olive world hardly bet on an exceptional 2020/2021 campaign and cherished the sweet hope that it would reach, or even exceed, the 1,800,000 tons mark, but it was without counting on the weather whims. The heavy rains, the cold, even the snow, that invited themselves at the end of 2020, have severely brought down olives and the forecasts with it.

Thus, over the months, optimism gave way to pragmatism as at the end of March we count 1,381,538 tons of olive oil, according to AICA… End of April should bring its final touch, but the few remaining tons will be tiny. This score, still honorable, allows Spain to remain the reservoir of the world in oil, especially since all the other producing countries have seen their lowest harvest this year.

Few shadows on the honor roll, however :

– Spain experiences the lowest yield in history for the last 25 years,

– The downgrading of many batches of extra virgin into virgin, a real nightmare for cooperatives and sellers.

It is therefore a daily battle, a real headache for operators, to find good quality lots to offer their customers, especially when demand doesn’t weaken, quite the contrary.

Supporting figures :

• Consumption in March 2021 : 142,706 tons compared to 136,391 tons in February
• Average monthly consumption from October 2020 to March 2021 : 130,000 tons compared to 116,000 tons over the same period on 2020.

The shortage of olive oil in the world made that consumers turned to Spain, accentuating this phenomenon of high demand which also contribues to a rising market. Some even risk saying that prices will not drop before the next harvest, unless the next flowering of the olive trees is good and comes to reverse the trend a bit. But for now the rain seems to be a bit late in Spain… Here again, the spring weather will be crucial and decisive for the future of next harvest.