Producer prices, olive oil (May 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 and 4.

Extra virgin olive oil – Producer prices in Spain over the last few weeks continued increasing steadily, coming in at €3.98/kg at the end of May 2017, which was a 36% increase compared to the same period the previous year. A comparison of this price with the maximum price in the third week of August 2015 (€4.23/kg) reveals a 6% decrease (Graph 1).

Italy – In February 2017 producer prices broke the €6/kg barrier, dropping off somewhat in recent weeks and coming in at €5.91/kg at the end of May, which is a 66% year-on-year increase. Graph 2 shows the movements in monthly prices for the extra virgin olive oil category in recent crop years.

Greece – The prices in Greece rose until the end of November and, after remaining stable in recent months, rose again slightly as of mid-March, coming in at €3.76/kg at the end of May, which is a 30% 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 €4.25/kg at the end of May 2017 for a 28% year-on-year increase.

Refined olive oil: The producer prices for refined olive oil in Spain and Italy generally follow the same trend as the prices for extra virgin olive oil. The price in Spain at the end of May 2017 stood at €3.91/kg, up by 37% compared to the previous year. In Italy it came in at €3.98/kg, which is a 34% year-on-year increase. No price data are available for this product category in Greece.

At the end of May 2017, the price difference in Spain between refined olive oil (€3.91/kg) and extra virgin oil (€3.98/kg) was of €0.07/kg. In Italy, the price difference between the two categories was greater than in Spain at €1.93/kg (Graph 3).