The olive oil crisis: the drought causes the worst campaign in a decade

Pessimism reigns among olive growers. The drought threatens the results of the olive harvest campaign, which will be the worst in a decade. Thus, the production of olive oil will be reduced by almost half compared to 2021, according to cooperatives and agricultural organizations. In total, they anticipate that the million tons will not be reached.

The comparison with last season is especially painful, in which production was close to a million and a half tons. But .

The experts are very negative. . They predict that production will be the worst since 2012, around 800,000 tons. Only in Jaén, the province from whose fields most of the Spanish oil comes, the fall will be more than half, which translates into losses of about 1,000 million euros.

The drought came at the worst moment, when the flower was beginning to appear on the olive tree.

This is an abrupt drop, due to the fact that the drought has been enormous, especially in the south of Spain. And precisely at the worst moment, when the flower was beginning to be on the olive tree, a particularly sensitive phase of the campaign. A drought accompanied, in addition, by gusts of strong winds, which caused the flowers to burn, frustrating their development into fruit.

Only a generous autumn in rain could prevent production from sinking so much, but without them, and with temperatures still high, the worst forecasts are beginning to gain strength.

Although the situation in the Spanish countryside is worrisome, the oil sector is going to suffer all over the world. Experts, according to EFE, forecast a drop in global production that will be around 8% compared to last year. Only Türkiye will be able to have a higher offer than the one registered last year.

Of course, oil is not the only one harmed by the terrible olive oil campaign. The table olive harvest, after a record year, is also expected to be short, in all varieties. In addition to the drought, it is added that the fruit that manages to resist will not have the volume or the appearance that the market demands. There will not be enough production to meet the demand.

A truly worrying situation, according to representatives of the sector, which could cause prices to skyrocket if there is little production and a lot of demand.