Pixabay
Pixabay

Olive oil production in Uruguay has been impacted by drought conditions followed by rain during the harvest, Olive Oil Times wrote.

Production will be 78% lower than last year’s harvest and 72% below the South American country’s five-year average, according to official estimates quoted in the 1 July report.

Uruguayan Olive Association (Asolur) president Gonzalo Aguirre was quoted as saying production in 2024 would drop to 500,000 litres (458 tonnes).

“There was a very, very low harvest,” Aguirre said. “It was partially due to the drought last year, which did not allow the shoots to be ready to grow olives. Also, the harvest was negatively influenced for some producers because it rained a lot, and they lost olives.”

The decline in Uruguayan production followed a poor harvest in the Northern Hemisphere and lower crops in Argentina, Chile and Peru, Olive Oil Times wrote.

As a result, consumers in Uruguay had seen significant price rises in 2024, the report said.

“Prices in Uruguay have already risen, and I believe they will continue to rise due to lack of supply and high demand,” Laura Da Trindade, the director of olive oil company Sabiá in the southeastern department of Lavalleja, was quoted as saying.

However, Aguirre said he expected import prices to remain steady in the short term and drop by the beginning of 2025 when olive oil from the latest Spanish and Italian harvests begin to arrive.

“Next year, if there is a good harvest in the Mediterranean and the region, I believe that prices may even go down,” he said.

Even in good years, about half of Uruguay’s olive oil supply comes from Argentina, Italy and Spain, Olive Oil Times wrote.