Fear of oil shortages on the shelves due to events in Ukraine, triggering a rally in the prices of all oils. The price of sunflower oil has already skyrocketed, followed by olive oil and, in recent days, The upward trend also extends to extra virgin olive oil., favoring those producers who had kept reserves.
Specifically, the company Heliotis purchased a tanker of extra virgin olive oil from this year's harvest at a price of €3.70 per kilo from the Fonikio Lakonia Cooperative, which operates in southern Lakonia. As stated by the Cooperative's manager, Mr. George Kritikos, after the stagnation of the previous months, it seems that something is changing, and it is possible that this has to do with developments in Ukraine and the general turmoil in the agricultural and commodity markets.
According to him, AS Foinikio still has 100 tons of extra virgin olive oil from this year's harvest in stock, out of a total of 380 tons this year. As Mr. Kritikos further explains, the quality was once again top-notch, but production was down. For the new season, says the AS manager, the year seems to have already been lost, with a new wave of bad weather expected to arrive next weekend, but if the weather remains favorable for olive producers, production volumes will be high.
Another cooperative in Laconia, the Agricultural Cooperative of Agios Dimitrios, Agios Nikolaos, and Talanta Monemvasia, proceeded with the sale of extra virgin olive oil from this year's harvest. The transaction was confirmed by the president and manager of the Agricultural Cooperative, Mr. Sotiris Kritikos, in an interview with AgroTypos. Specifically, as he told us, a total of 40 tons were sold at a price of €3.70 per kilogram, with the company Heliotis purchasing the product in this case as well. At the same time, as he told AgroTypos, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the new season is expected to be a good year for production.
And the fear of shortages alone drives up the price of the product.
According to the president of the Agios Dimitrios Agricultural Cooperative, Mr. Sotiris Kritikos, developments in Ukraine have a direct impact on the market for extra virgin olive oil, in the sense that there is a belief and... fear of shortages, so purchases are being made, demand is rising, and consequently so are prices. It should be noted that the available stocks of sunflower oil in the European Union are estimated to last for only 4 to 6 weeks, as warned on March 4, 2022, by Fediol, the Federation of Vegetable Oil Industries. Beyond this period, it is likely that the lack of availability of crude sunflower oil and limited alternatives will lead to a shortage of refined/bottled sunflower oil on the European market, which will be felt even by the end consumer. It should be noted that Ukraine covers 82% of the EU's sunflower oil needs.
