World trade in olive oil, producer prices march 2017

Graph 1 tracks the weekly movements in the prices paid to producers for extra virgin olive oil in the top three EU producing countries and in Tunisia, while graph 3 shows the weekly changes in producer prices for refined olive oil in the three main EU producer countries. The monthly price movements for these categories are given in Graphs 2 an 4.

Extra virgin olive oil – Producer prices in Spain over the last few weeks continued increasing steadily, dropping off somewhat in the last week to come in at €3.84/kg at the end of March 2017, which was a 20% increase compared to the same period the previous year. If we compare this price with the maximum price in the third week of August 2015 (€4.23/kg), it presents a 9% decrease (Graph 1).

Italy – Producer prices in Italy began rising in mid-August and this trend remains unchecked. They broke the €6 barrier in mid-February, coming in at €6.14/kg at the end of March 2017, which is a 73% year-on-year increase. Graph 2 shows the movements in monthly prices for the extra virgin olive oil category in recent campaigns.

Greece – The prices in Greece from mid-August to the end of October remained stable but, as in other markets, they levelled off in November and have remained stable over the last few months. In the middle of March they began rising again, settling at €3.56/kg at the end of March, which is a 21% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

Tunisia – Prices in Tunisia, following some weeks of relative stability, increased as of the third week of January, breaking the €4 barrier and coming in at €4.15/kg at the end of March 2017 for a 28% year-on-year increase.

At the end of March 2017, the price difference in Spain between refined olive oil (€3.75/kg) and extra virgin oil (€3.84/kg) was of €0.09/kg. In Italy, the price difference between the two categories was greater than in Spain at €2.30/kg (Graph 3).