The cooperatives estimate an oil production of 1,100,000tn

At its annual meeting of the Sectoral Council of Olive Oil, held on October 31th in Jaén, Agri-Food Cooperatives of Spain has made an estimate of olive oil harvest, which will be over 1,096,900 tons, which means a decrease of 14.7% with respect to last season.

As highlighted by the president of the sector of Olive Oil, Rafael Sanchez de Puerta “we are facing a new campaign 2017-2018 that starts in a climate of maximum concern for the lack of rain and high temperatures that have suffered the main producing regions during practically all of spring and summer”. “This panorama, he added, breaks with the good rhythm of the market and the high prices received by the producer sector during the 2016-2017 campaign“.

By regions, it should be noted that in Andalusia the situation is mixed, there are areas with an increase in production while others have a significant fall

As recently noted by the capacity published by the Board, provinces such as Seville and Malaga foresee an increase in production of 7.5% and 22.9% compared to last season, while the forecasts in Jaen, main olive oil pantry in Spain, fall drastically by 28.8% to 360,000 tons, Córdoba, another of the most affected provinces, will have a production of around 244,000 tons, that is, 9.4% less than the last campaign.

Castilla La Mancha, the second producing region in the national territory, estimates a strong reduction of its harvest that would be around 75,000 tons, which would also mean a decrease of -34%

This situation is just the opposite in Extremadura, with an optimal production for this campaign that will be around 57,000 tons, a figure much higher than the average for this region.

In Catalonia, production reaches 28,000 tons. Finally, Aragón with 13,000 tons and the Region of Murcia with 10,000 tons also foresee a better harvest in this new campaign.

As highlighted by the sector president, the sector is waiting for the evolution of weather conditions in the coming weeks to confirm these estimates. For Rafael Sánchez de Puerta a new campaign begins in which the market situation will be favorable despite the expected decreases in production.

Source: Agri-Food Cooperatives of Spain