Olive oil and olive pomace oil: trade movements in the top four producing countries in 2013/14

SPAIN – At the close of the 2013/14 crop year, Spain had exported 1 231 817 t to the world market (including intra-EU deliveries), up by 68 pc on the previous season. Exports to non-EU countries totalled 336 115 t, of which 36 pc went to the United States, making this country Spain’s chief export destination. Ranked by volume, next came Japan, China, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Russia, Mexico, United Emirates, India and others. The higher level of production in 2013/14 allowed Spain to import 49 pc less than a season earlier.
Deliveries of Spanish olive oil and olive pomace oil inside the EU came to 895 702 t, showing an increase of 78 pc on 2012/13. According to the volume ranking, Italy was the biggest EU buyer, taking 59% of all Spanish deliveries (531 430.0 t, up by 143 pc on the previous season), followed by Portugal (129 920 t), France (92 458.60 t), United Kingdom (54 749.50 t), Sweden (24 212.0 t), Netherlands (12 723.60 t), Germany (10 896.80 t), Belgium (9 831.0 t) and Greece (9 792.7 t), and miscellaneous other countries.
Itemised by grade, 73 pc of Spanish sales belonged to the virgin category (customs heading 150910), 19 pc was olive oil (150990) and 8 pc was olive pomace oil (151000).
The provisional figures for 2014/15 assess Spanish output at 829 000 t, 53 pc less than in 2013/14.

ITALY – In 2013/14, Italy exported a total of 416 892 t, up by 6 pc on 2012/13. Thirty-nine percent of these exports stayed inside the EU where the main destinations, listed by volume in descending order, were Germany (28 pc of total), France, Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Netherlands and Denmark. Italian exports to non-EU countries accounted for 61 pc of its aggregate exports and recorded a season-on-season increase of 9 pc. The top destinations were the United States (47 pc/total), followed by Canada, Japan, Australia, China, Switzerland, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Brazil. Italian imports of olive oil from outside the EU (29 126 t) were 64 pc lower than in the previous crop year and came mostly (74 pc) from Tunisia. Other suppliers were Turkey, Australia, Morocco and Chile.
Intra-EU purchases of olive oil by Italy totalled 591 257.5 t, up by 46 pc on the previous season. Ninety-nine per cent of this tonnage came from three countries: Spain (90 pc), Greece (6 pc) and Portugal (3 pc).
In 2013/14, the breakdown of Italian sales by category shows that 71 pc was virgin olive oil (150910), 18 pc was olive oil (150990) and 9 pc was olive pomace oil (151000).
Italy’s production in 2014/15 is estimated at 222 000 t, which would be 52 pc down on the level in 2013/14.

GREECE – At the end of the 2013/14 crop year, Greek exports totalled 69 848 t, equating with a decrease of 70 pc on 2012/13 levels. It should be remembered that Greek production in 2013/14 came to no more than 132 000 t, set against an average of 300 000 t. Exports to non-EU countries dropped by 11 pc. The chief destinations were the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia, China, Switzerland, Japan, Ukraine and Taiwan, amongst others.
Looking at intra-EU trade, Greek deliveries to other EU countries came to a total of 51 963 t, down by 75 pc on the previous crop year. Intra-EU trade accounted for 74 pc of all Greece’s exports. Ranked by volume, the main importers of Greek olive oil were Italy (62 pc), Germany, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Austria, Spain, France, Sweden, Belgium and various others.
In 2013/14, 78 pc of the product sold by Greece belonged to the virgin olive oil category (150910), 7 pc was olive oil grade (150990) and 15 pc was olive pomace oil (151000).
According to the estimates for 2014/15, Greek production will total 300 000 t, up by 127 pc on 2013/14.

TUNISIA – Tunisian exports in 2013/14 came to 77 139.6 t, dropping 56 pc on 2012/13. This was prompted by the fact that between the two crop years, production fell by 68 pc from 220 000 t to 70 000 t. Tunisian exports went chiefly to Italy (29 pc of total). Next in line came Canada, United States, France, Saudi Arabia and various other countries.
Virgin olive oil (150910) accounted for 79 pc of Tunisia’s exports, 11 pc was olive oil (150990) and 10 pc was olive pomace oil (151000).
For 2014/15, Tunisian production is expected to total 220 000 t, showing an increase of 160 pc on 2013/14.

International Olive Council