Turkey eyes second place in global olive market

Turkey hopes to become the second largest olive and olive oil producer after Spain, according to the head of the National Olive and Olive Oil Council, or UZZK.

"Turkey’s total of olive oil production rose from 112,000 tons to 147,000 tons in the last five years," said Mustafa Tan, chairman of the board at UZZK, at the meeting in Istanbul.

Tan said the annual domestic demand had risen from 50,000 tons to 110,000 tons in five years, but added that domestic demand still fell short compared with European countries and that the sector was still struggling to overcome difficulties and use its true potential.

The council, which was founded nearly four years ago, has established close surveillance on the quality standards of the olive oil produced and the olives sold on supermarket shelves.

"The quality has to be sustained in order to become a world leader," said Tan.

The council formed a “white list” to determine olive and olive oil producers meeting the quality standards. The aim is to increase consumers’ awareness about the quality of olive products, Tan said.

"The logo of UZZK will be placed on packages of olive products soon," he said.

"Turkey is the only olive and olive oil producer country which does not have sufficient demand in its domestic market," said Cahit Çetin, chairman of Tariş Olive and Olive Union.

Turkey’s share of the world’s total oil products consumption floats at around 3 percent, he said, adding that the country should increase its domestic demand in order to boost the sector.

"Turkey spends nearly $2 billion on vegetable oil imports annually," he said. The amount ranks second after oil and gas imports to the country.

Çetin said nearly 80 percent of the oil and olive oil production was consumed by the actual producers in Turkish market. The figures indicate that the domestic olive oil consumption is far lower than in rival producers: Turkey’s per capita annual consumption stands at 1.2 kilograms, compared to 12.4 kilograms in Italy, 13.6 kilograms in Spain  and a whopping 23.7 kilograms in neighboring Greece.

According to data from the IMF, extra virgin olive oil fetched $3,230 per ton in April, a decline of 2 percent compared to the previous year. The decline owes much to the continued financial turmoil of Spain, the world’s biggest producer. Under pressure to repay debts to their banks, Spanish olive farmers have been flooding the market with their produce, driving down prices.

With an annual production of 1.2 million tons in 2009, Spain is the champion of olive oil, and the fate of its farmers is being nervously watched by their counterparts in Asia Minor, the original home of the wild olive tree. Turkey ranks only as the sixth-biggest producer in the world, with an output of 143,600 tons in 2009, behind Italy, Greece, Syria and Tunisia.


/Hurriyet Daily News/