According to a report by the Centro Internacional de Excelencia para Aceite de Oliva, GEA Westfalia Separator Ibérica, total global production of olive oil over the 2014-2015 period is likely to be approximately 2.6 million tonnes. Spanish production is forecast to fall by 47% compared to last year, yielding around 960,000 tonnes and about 36% of global olive oil supplies. Whereas in 2013-2014 Spain supplied 55% of the world’s olive oil, yielding a total of 1.8 million tonnes.
The report also forecasts a significant production increase in Italy, which should yield 450,000 tonnes of olive oil following good harvests in Puglia, Abruzzo, Umbria and Campania. This equates to a 15% increase in yield compared to the previous season, which was a little disappointing in terms of yield. A good performance is also expected from Greece, which will be welcome after several less than satisfactory years. Here, areas like Laconia, Crete and Kalamata will be leveraged to increase yields by around 18% compared to last year. Meanwhile a downward trend is expected in Morocco, where yields are likely to drop by 25%, due to poor harvests in drought-affected Marrakech and Beni Metal. Similarly 19, 25 and 12 per cent falls in yields are forecast for the United States, New Zealand and Chile, respectively.
Overall, the 2014/2015 olive oil production season is likely to result in a 20% reduction in the world’s olive oil supply compared with the previous year.
There are currently 47 olive oil producing countries around the globe, following recent additions of Armenia and Namibia. Olive oil is consumed in 110 countries, and the highest demand comes from Italy, Spain, Greece and the United States.
