It didn’t rain, olive oil prices set a record

Although the climate crisis affects the whole world, it also causes an increase in the prices of agricultural products.

Due to the drought in Spain, the world’s largest producer of olive oil, its prices have risen to record levels. A liter of olive oil rose to 5.4 euros, an increase of 60 percent compared to June 2022 levels.

Speaking to the UK’s Financial Times (FT), analysts warned that if this summer is also dry, the olive harvest will fall and prices will rise further.

OLIVE OIL PRODUCTION HAS DECREASED

Production in Spain, which accounts for about half of the world’s olive oil production, decreased by 50 percent in the last 12 months to 780,000 tons due to the drought.

“I’ve been in this industry for 20 years, I’ve never seen prices like these,” said Vito Martinelli, an oilseeds and oilseeds analyst at Rabobank, based in the Netherlands.

Martinelli claimed that 2022 was a “disaster” for Spain, with performance remaining low in Italy, along with other Mediterranean countries.

Italian data analysis firm Centro Studi Divulga announced that 2022 was the driest year in Italy since 1800.

NOT A DROP OF RAIN

The Spanish meteorological agency announced that March 2023 was the second warmest March of this century. A record drought is also expected in April. The agency announced that in the first 17 days of April, more than half of Spain did not receive a single drop of rain.

It is feared that olive oil production in 2023 will also remain low due to the ongoing drought.

Kyle Holland, an oilseeds and vegetable oils analyst at data firm Emtina Mintec, said the Mediterranean olive harvest takes place between October and February, and the 2023 harvest will be very low if there is no rain soon.