Spain Faces Olive Oil Shortage, May Boost Imports from Morocco Amid Drought

The Spanish Minister of Agriculture has informed that the country will only be able to market olive oil for the next five or six months. The main cause of this shortage is the drought, to which must be added the increase in production costs (energy, insecticides, etc.) due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

Thus, olive oil will be scarce and more expensive in Spain this year. The price of extra virgin olive oil is already 21% higher than last year and 90% higher than two seasons ago. And according to forecasts, prices will continue to rise.

For their part, farmers estimate that it will be impossible to meet demand, even if Spain imports olive oil from Morocco, Tunisia or Greece. There will be supply problems, they warn.

Andalusia, which produces 80% of Spanish olive oil, has already announced economic losses of around 1.7 billion euros and job losses. Similarly, the production of table olives will also be down. It is estimated at just over 360,000 tons, a third less than last season.