The decline of olive oil exports begins, they decrease by 58% for January-October 2024

After the high growth of olive oil exports in 2023, their decline has started this year.

According to Customs data, for the period January-October 2024, 2,418 thousand kg of olive oil were exported. Compared to the same period last year, exports decreased by 58.4%.

The increase in exports, mainly of rifujo oil to Italy, was boosted after the boomerang created by the overproduction of 2022, where farmers could not find a sale market for olive oil.

In total, 6,148 thousand kg of olive oil were exported in 2023. Compared to 2022, the imported amount increased by 19 times. The value of exports for 2023 reached 2.9 billion ALL. Compared to 2022, exports in value increased 14 times more.

In the month of November, the farmers first sold the rifujho olive oil for export to the collection points, at a price of 360 to 400 ALL per liter.

 Then in July 2024, the price of gathering oil for export reached 500 to 540 ALL per liter. In this period, the olive oil produced by Albanian farmers is being requested mostly by Italian merchants, at a price of 500 to 550 Lek per liter.

Collection points and processors claimed that the oil that was exported, mainly in Italy, is refujo, which is then processed abroad and sold as an Italian brand. According to the representatives of the collection points, the price requested by the Italian processors is low, and neither the farmer nor the Albanian economy benefits, but it only empties the amount of oil collected at the growers' houses.

Even with the new production, the demand for the export of rifujho oil from the collection points is high, but they are being asked to collect the oil at a price below 550 ALL per liter.

 For this reason, many farmers are not taking the olive oil to the collection points, with the destination of its export to Italy. Meanwhile, local processors are collecting olive oil at a price of up to 630 ALL per liter.

In addition to refujo exports, many processors in the country export "extra virgin" olive oil under their own brand. But they say that despite the fiscal ease of the VAT exemption, this year the increase in production costs has resulted in the selling price not being competitive compared to Spanish or Italian producers.

According to the processors, the cost of olive oil production increased this year, influenced by the halving of the yield and the increase of up to 50% in the harvesters' payments./ MONITOR