Due to increased production and high global demand, the export of olive oil to the EU will reach record levels in 2018/19.
In addition, it is expected that cereal production in the EU will recover over the same period. These are the main conclusions of the latest short-term report on EU agricultural markets, published on April 17, 2019 by the European Commission.
Mainly due to a significant increase in the production of olive oil in Spain (1.7 million tons, the second largest since 2003), it is expected that production of this product in the EU will grow by 2.9% by 2018/19. An increase in global demand and a decrease in supply from non-EU countries should lead to an increase in EU exports by 11%, reaching 625,000 tons.
As for the dairy sector, milk production is expected to increase by 0.7% in 2019, and is projected at 167.3 million tons, compared to 166.4 million tons in 2018. This increase must be sustained by global demand. Cheese is the most consumed dairy product on the EU market, and its consumption is expected to increase slightly in 2019, increasing by 0.5%. Outside the EU, cheese exports are expected to grow by 1% in 2019, which will contribute to an increase in production by 0.8% to 10,705 million tons from 10,624 million tons in 2018.
It is also predicted that in 2019/20, cereal production in the EU will recover from the previous crop, which was seriously undermined by adverse climatic conditions. It is projected at 307.5 million tons, compared with 290.5 million tons in 2018/19. A slight increase in the total grain area in the EU is also expected compared to last season, reaching 55.8 million hectares in 2019 compared to 55.1 million hectares in 2018. This is still 1% below the five-year average.
