An increase in the virgin olive oil imported into New Zealand will be recorded in 2003, with 11 months figure showing an increase of 58 tonnes over 2002. The import of non-virgin olive oil and ‘blend’ are likely to be slightly down.

The cif value of imported oil was just above $23m in 2002 and $19m for the first eleven months of 2003. There was a drop in cif price of both virgin (11%) and non-virgin imports (5.5%).

The data available for table olives is confused by the category/code which includes ‘fruit and nuts’ preserved by vinegar, and apparently including olives this category. However, the countries of origin of foods in this category suggest that the olive component may be small. Any conclusions drawn for the imports statistics must take this into account.

The ‘olive’ categories show just under 975 tonnes imported in 2002, with this increasing to 1125 for the first 11 months of 2003. With a month to go there is already a 15% increase in imports. The non-vinegar category shows a price decrease in 2003 of 5.6%.

To get a clearer picture of table olive imports and the cif value, there needs to be some rationalisation of the codes and further sata collected on whether the olives are green or black and stuffed or unstuffed. This would give New Zealand producers and processors more accurate market data to assist in planning their olive enterprises.

Simon Field

16 January 2004

Compiled by Commercial Olive Research

* See below for HS10 Statistics New Zealand Codes

*HS10 Codes

• 1509.10.00.00 Vegetable oils; olive oil and its fractions, virgin, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
• 1509.90.00.00 Vegetable oils; olive oil and its fractions, other than virgin, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
• 1510.00.00,00 Vegetable oils; oils and their fractions n.e.s. in chapter 15, obtained solely from olives, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, including blends of these oils or fractions with oils or fractions of heading no. 1509

** cif: cost of goods, including insurance and freight to New Zealand

*HS10 Codes

• 2001.90.01.19 Vegetable preparations; vegetables, fruit and nuts, prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid (excluding cucumbers, gherkins and onions

• 2005.70.00.00 Vegetable preparations; olives, prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen

• 0711.20.00.00 Vegetables; olives, provisionally preserved but unsuitable in that state for immediate consumption

** cif: cost of goods, including insurance and freight to New Zealand

*** Apparently distorted by a relatively large import from Spain in November 2002 with 6.079 averaging NZ$44.25/kg

Source of Data: Statistics New Zealand