Olive oil: fierce competition
April 30, 2025 at 2:35 PM ,
Der AUDITOR
Turkish table olives overtake Egypt and Spain
With a crop of around 700,000 mt this season, Turkey has overtaken both Egypt (600,000 mt) and Spain (468,000 mt) as the world's largest producer of table olives. Thanks to the very productive year overall, olive oil production in Turkey also increased by more than 150% year-on-year to 475,000 mt.
Tunisia and Spain push down prices
Despite this development, olive oil exports from Turkey declined by 40.6% year-on-year to USD 145.314 million in the first quarter of 2025. This is partly due to the fact that the average price has fallen from around USD 6.00 per unit last year to below USD 5.00 per unit this year. According to the Chairman of the Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters' Association, Mehmet Emre Uygun, the export restrictions last year have ruined opportunities. In the 2023/2024 season, significantly larger quantities of olive oil could have been exported from Turkey due to lower production in countries such as Spain. Although these regulations no longer apply in the current season, Spain's olive production has increased significantly again, which reduces the export potential. In addition, according to Uygun, producing countries such as Tunisia and Spain are putting pressure on prices on the international market, as the average export prices here are only EUR 3.00 per unit and EUR 3.80 per unit respectively.
After all, demand for olive oil has increased in the domestic market, as this is the only foodstuff without exception whose prices have become more favourable over the past three years despite inflation – from TRY 400 per unit to TRY 200 per unit.
However, in addition to the more favourable prices from Spain and Tunisia, customs duties and quotas are a hurdle for Turkish exporters when it comes to shipments to the EU. Countries such as Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria benefit from a free trade agreement, a privilege that Turkish olive oil does not enjoy. However, according to import data from the European Commission, the EU imported 1,146 mt of olive oil from Turkey this season, almost 56% more than in the same period last year.
EU imports have halved in value
Since the start of the 2024/2025 season on 1 October, a total of 43,278 mt of olive oil (EU categories 1 to 5, treated and untreated) worth EUR 194.878 million have been imported into the EU from third countries, meaning that the import volume has fallen by 14.8% compared to the same period last year, while the import value has even fallen by 50.1%. At EUR 4.50/kg, the average price per kilogramme is significantly below last year's level of EUR 7.69/kg. The reason for this is likely to be the significant increase in production volumes in the EU growing countries this season.
While shipments from Turkey (+55.9% to 1,146 mt) and Algeria (+109.1% to 575 mt) increased significantly, imports from the main sourcing country Tunisia (-3.8% to 34,515 mt), Egypt (-53.8% to 2,330 mt) and Morocco (-65.9% to 1,293 mt) fell sharply year-on-year.
The main importers in the EU were Italy (+15.5% to 22,930 mt), Spain (-59.7% to 8,470 mt) and France (+75.3% to 9,830 mt), followed by Belgium (+86.1% to 2,270 mt) and Germany (+80.8% to 859 mt). Spain was able to achieve a significantly better crop result again in 2024, which is also reflected in the import values.
|
EU olive oil imports, in mt |
|||
|
Partner |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
Diff. |
|
Tunisia |
35,884 |
34,515 |
-3.8% |
|
Egypt |
5,038 |
2,330 |
-53.8% |
|
Morocco |
3,797 |
1,293 |
-65.9% |
|
Turkey |
735 |
1,146 |
55.9% |
|
Algeria |
275 |
575 |
109.1% |
|
Others |
5,037 |
3,419 |
-32.1% |
|
Total |
50,766 |
43,278 |
-14.8% |
|
DG AGRI TAXUD Customs Surveillance System, 01/10-20/03 15092000+15093000+15094000+15099000 Olive oil |
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