World trade in olive oil, 2014/15 crop year

Imports of olive oil (customs heading 15.09) and olive pomace oil (customs heading 15.10) through eleven of the 12 months in the 2014/15 crop year (October 2014–August 2015) are reported in the table below for a number of countries. Compared with the same period in 2013/14, Japanese imports have risen by 11 pc, showing strong growth since March 2015. Imports into the United States have gone up by 1 pc while remaining stable in China. Conversely, imports are lower in Australia (−20 pc, moving constantly downward since November 2014), Canada (−9 pc) and Brazil (-6 pc), which recorded sharp decreases in May and June. The August 2015 data for Russia were not available at the time of writing but the ten-month figures are lower (−29 pc), prompted by a switch of trend in December 2014.

The August 2015 data were not available either for the EU at the time of publication but the figures for the first ten months of 2014/15 show steady intra-EU acquisitions but a steep 295 pc in extra-EU imports compared with the same period a season earlier. Owing to the heavy drop in 2014/15 production in Spain and Italy, extra-EU imports by both countries soared, particularly imports from Tunisia (+1300 pc and +359 pc, respectively) compared with a season earlier. As reported in the previous issue of this newsletter, this upward movement began in December 2014 and is connected with the large climb in Tunisian production in 2014/15, which positioned Tunisia as the world’s top exporter that season.

International Olive Council