Jaén set to produce as much olive oil as Italy, Greece and Tunisia combined

By Revista Almaceite  www.revistaalmaceite.com 

Translation by Cecilia Fontelles

A few years ago high yields of olive oil used to be received as a blessing, translating into income and millions in wages. In these pandemic times, they are more necessary than ever. However, in times of low prices, big yields are not always well received. As we know, a high availability of oil (estimated production + linking) brings with it a retention in prices owing to the higher purchasing margin of the big packaging groups and international dealers.

 What started off as a medium-high campaign, closer to 1.5 million tonnes, could turn out to be-with a bit of help from the weather- a high yield campaign, one of the four highest in history. Recent data from the Aforo de la Junta de Andalucía (the official department for provision and control of oil production) which is considered to be the most accurate analysis, have alerted to the surprisingly large  harvest of olives for oil, both in the province of Jaén (670.000 T) and also in Córdoba (317.000 T). The expected harvest will also be high in Sevilla (135.000 T) and Granada (125.000 T). Olive growers from Andalucía, and Jaén in particular, are once again flexing their muscle in the international oil sector for the 2020/2021 campaign.

At a global scale, Andalucía is set to produce 50% more than in the previous campaign. This gives us an idea of the expected high production and in turn, this also places the region in a privileged position in the oil world scene. Whether or not this trade cycle will help towards establishing more stable prices, still remains to be seen.

As a point of interest, data from the Aforo de la Junta de Andalucía show that the production from the region of Jaén on its own would amount to the combined production of the three main world producers after Spain: Italy ( 280.000 T), Greece (220.000 T) and Tunisia (170.000 T). Data for estimates from these countries come from their producers associations and oil mills. Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, prospects are much lower than in the previous campaign, but in Jaén production will rise around 69%.

It should be noted that while the estimated production for the whole region of Andalucía will reach 1.38 MT, the whole of the Spanish olive growing sector will be around 1.68 MT. We have to take into account the estimated 140.000 T hailing from the region of Castilla-La Mancha. In the case of Extremadura, the third region in terms of production, the expected harvest will be significantly lower in traditional olive growing but will be partly compensated by the super-intensive olive growers.

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