The price of olive oil has begun to ease tensions in the packaging industry. In particular, a ton of extra virgin is 5% cheaper than five weeks ago, and a ton of virgin is 6.28% cheaper. Latest official price data for Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who drives Luis Planas They reflect a slow but steady decline in commodity prices, which have become one of the signature products of inflation.

In fact, over the past week, the price of extra virgin olive oil has fallen by 3.65%; extra virgin olive oil – 3.60%; and olive lampante – 3.66%. In the week from 6 to 12 October, 805.96 euros were paid per hundred kilograms, and in week 46 (from 13 to 19 November) it dropped to 776.57 euros.

According to MAPA’s latest weekly price bulletin, the ex-squeeze average falls 2.79%. Since the start of the current campaign (Week 40), EVOO is 4.55% in the field and 8.03% in the primary.

In any case, the reduction in prices does not compensate for the significant increase accumulated during the year. In fact, statistics show that Extra Virgin is 63.09% more expensive than the same week the previous year; a virgin is 50.62% higher; and on average everything is 60% more expensive. Compared to the average of the last four campaigns, the amount per ton is still 143.2% higher.

And despite the relief in payments to packagers, it is not at all clear how long it will take for this reduction to translate into prices on supermarket shelves. Also, will the downward trend in prices continue over time or may experience ups and downs as a result of sector volatility.

In fact, experts are very attentive to what may happen in the final stretch of the year. Lack of water due to drought caused production to fall to less than half the previous year’s level at 660,000 tonnes.

So far, production estimates for the new campaign, which began in October, are 15% better than the previous one, but still 34% lower than the average for the last four campaigns. Thus, the production volume will be 765,300 tons. And this continues to create tension in the market. The new season began with binding stocks of 257 thousand tons, which is 43% less than the previous year and 52% below the average level of the last four.

On the consumer side, Facua reported to antitrust authorities its pricing policies in eight supermarket and hypermarket chains. olive oil Own brand.

According to the association, all of them increased the price of one-liter bottles of their “white” brands of extra virgin olive oil by 9% in November. The analysis shows that now for three months they had the same prices or with a difference not exceeding 1 cent. In particular, he put white marks Alcampo, Aldi, Carrefour, Dia, Eroski, Hypercor, Lidl and Mercadona.