Drought slashes Spain’s olive oil production by 50%

The European Commission has indicated that olive oil production in Spain, the world’s top olive oil producer, could be halved this year compared to last year due to drought.

She said that the reduction in production in Spain would lead to an increase in world prices, and Spain usually provides about 40 percent of world production.

However, heatwaves that occurred during the flowering of olive trees last spring and severe drought since last summer in Spain, Italy and Portugal, the world’s second and fourth producers, have reduced stocks.

Greece, the third largest producer in the European Union, which was not affected by these weather conditions, is expected to improve its production, although this is not enough to offset the decline in production in Spain.

“This is a disaster,” said Primitivo Fernandez, president of the Spanish National Oil Spill Association, highlighting the simultaneous drought, economic crisis and war in Ukraine.

The Association of Spanish Olive Oil Exporters (Asoliva) estimates that global olive oil production will decline by at least 10% this year, compared to 3.1 million tons produced in the season ending in 2021.

“Every day that goes by without rain brings worse expectations,” Ducop, Spain’s largest olive oil producer, told Reuters.

Source: Reuters.

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