The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Luis Planas announced last week the withdrawal of 188,000 tons of olive oil that must remain in the oil mills until September 2027. The measure, they explained, was the solution to a foreseeable collapse in the price of liquid gold due to the high production of the last campaign. However, this controversial movement is finding disparate opinions. On the one hand, that of the employers’ associations and on the other, that of farmers like Tommy Rohdethey earn their living daily between tractors and olive groves.
Well known on social networks (on X he has more than 59,000 followers), he has spoken with NewsWork to explain that store part of the Spanish harvest It is not going to solve any problem and that there would be an alternative that involves temporarily restricting imports of olive oil from non-EU countries. “The oil that is withdrawn from the market now will have to be put back on the market when the storage period ends.”
Therefore, it is an average that “is useless because you are removing something that you will later put back on the table.” According to the estimates made by the Autonomous Communities, Spain could reach 1,602,595 tons of olive oil, 23% more than last year, and stored stocks would have to be added to this.
Withdrawing Spanish production is not the solution
The farmer has made it clear that the decision made by the Government is not going to resolve the excess supply because the thousands of tons that are withdrawn will continue to be stored and will end up going to the market and this could postpone the fall in prices instead of avoiding it. “The price may go up now, but when they release it it will go down again, because it is a year with a lot, a lot of oil.”
“Spain is one of the main producers of olive oil in the world,” so “what I would do is temporarily restrict imports” and mentions the oil that comes from Tunisia and Morocco, and says about the former that “it has greater relevance in the import market.”
Oil is already being paid at 3 euros per liter
One of the concerns that Rohde expressed during the interview is the drop in the price that producers receive. Olive oil is being paid around three euros per liter, although it will surely continue to drop as soon as the campaign begins in general in Andalusia, as has been pointed out.
“It costs the producer about four euros to produce it,” he said. Because maintaining a farm is not only what you see, but also many things that people do not know, such as, for example, the cost of diesel, the maintenance of the land or the machinery and the salaries and costs of employees.
The collapse in prices is a “real” concern for this sector, although it insists that the temporary withdrawal of oil is not the appropriate solution. “The collapse in prices is real, that is, they are going to fall.”
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The measure “was requested by the employers and they allude to the fact that it is something that the farmers want”
The measure of storing olive oil responds, according to Rohde, to a demand from the employers. “They allude to the fact that farmers have asked for this, but I don’t know any who have done it,” he noted. He remembers how he was in the delegation that traveled to Madrid to demand better conditions for the countryside, in a tractor unit which was canceled due to Urda railway accident (Toledo).