Russian Olive Oil Imports Slip
In terms of olive oil conÂsumpÂtion, Russia’s usage is relÂaÂtively high comÂpared to China and India, with the averÂage Russian conÂsumÂing 250ml of olive oil per year while the averÂage perÂson in China conÂsumes less than 2 tableÂspoons annuÂally. Despite a ten-fold increase in Russian olive oil imports since 2001, recent data shows a 30 perÂcent drop in imports comÂpared to the preÂviÂous year, while China’s olive oil imports have sigÂnifÂiÂcantly decreased since peakÂing in the 2011/2012 seaÂson.
When it comes to olive oil usage among the big Asian counÂtries, Russians conÂsumpÂtion seems pracÂtiÂcally Greek when comÂpared with China and India.
While Russia and China both imported about 35,000 tons of olive oil last year, accordÂing to the latÂest report by the International Olive Council (IOC), Russia has about one-tenth of China’s popÂuÂlaÂtion.
The averÂage Russian conÂsumed a respectable 250ml of olive oil last year while the averÂage perÂson in China conÂsumed less than 2 tableÂspoons all year. Adoption in India is even more minisÂcule.
Since 2001, the IOC reported, Russian olive oil imports grew by ten-fold to nearly 35,000 tons. Spain proÂvided most of the supÂply (56 perÂcent), folÂlowed by Italy (30 perÂcent) and Greece (9 perÂcent).
However, if you look at this year-to-date, the IOC figÂures show, the trend has shifted with imports dropÂping 30 perÂcent in the last three months of data over the same period last year.
As for China, after peakÂing in the 2011/2012 seaÂson at 46,000 tons, olive oil imports in the world’s most popÂuÂlous counÂtry have been sharply lower.
The IOC also reported that the price for Italian olive oil has staÂbiÂlized at €5.94/kg as of the end of April. Prices for Spanish, Tunisian and Greek extra virÂgin olive oils have all shown an upward trend over the past 12 months.
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