Olive oil producers in Argentina produced a good harvest this year – after three consecutive below average seasons – despite high temperatures, Olive Oil Times wrote.
However, inflation continues to create problems for domestic sales and exports, according to the 2 August report.
“The high inflation figure has a completely negative impact on the entire olive supply chain… Prices always vary upwards, so you have to be very careful both when buying and selling, be it raw materials, inputs or services,” Chamber of Foreign Commerce of Cuyo general manager Mario Bustos Carra was quoted as saying.
“Additionally, the national government applies a policy that keeps the price of the dollar below the inflationary percentage, which means that the value of the currencies that are charged for our exports is well below their real value in our country.”
While the final figures from the harvest would not be known until early September, several of the country’s largest producers told Olive Oil Times they expected this year’s yield to be far higher than the 2021/22 crop year.
According to provisional data from the International Olive Council, Argentina produced 33,000 tonnes of olive oil in 2021/22, although some industry figures believed the figure would have to be revised downward.
“In the northern provinces, including Catamarca, La Rioja and the north of San Juan, there was an average yield; but with an important increase compared to 2022,” Sergio Castello, the country representative of Pieralisi in Argentina and producer behind Almaoliva, told Olive Oil Times.
“In the middle of Argentina – the south of San Juan and Mendoza – the harvest was good, a little above average. The problem in east Mendoza was the frost and hail. And in the south region, that is, San Rafael (in the south of Mendoza) and Neuquén, they had a really good harvest.”
Argentina’s bumper harvest followed forecasts of reduced harvests across the Mediterranean basin, with lower production expected in Spain, Turkey, Portugal and Greece in the 2023/24 crop year.
