Interview: Spain's olive oil exports to China up in 2022, says expert

MADRID, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Spain's olive oil exports to China increased to 20,000 tonnes in the first six months of this year from 17,000 tonnes in the same period of 2021.

This represents a 46 percent increase in terms of value as prices increased over that time period, Teresa Perez, director of Spain's Olive Oil Interprofessional, told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.

Her organization represents the interests of Spain's olive oil producers and promotes the product at home and abroad.

She said that the organization's new campaign, "Spanish Olive Oil. The New Trend," aims to promote the health benefits of olive oil and also to show that this product is sustainable and can even help combat climate change thanks to the millions of olive trees in Spain.

"It's a high-quality product that shows you care about health and the planet," she said.

Climate change is high on the agenda in Spain this year after the country suffered the hottest and driest summer since records began.

According to the Agricultural-Food Cooperatives of Andalusia (south of Spain), the region's production of olives is expected to fall from 1.15 million tonnes in 2021 to around 700,000 tonnes this year, and at the national level, the yield is projected to drop from almost 1.5 million tonnes to around 900,000 tonnes.

"We are in a changing situation because production has been badly affected by the drought that Spain has suffered. Large producers are talking of a drop of around 47 percent in production," Perez said.

However, she explained that the reduced harvest in 2022 will not mean a shortage of olive oil either in Spain or abroad, due to stocks of around 400,000 tonnes.

"We will have enough volume to supply the markets," she said.