Spanish olive oil makers mull US investment, rush exports to avoid tariffs
ANTEQUERA, Spain, April 11 (Reuters) - One of Spain's leading olive oil producers is pondering an expansion into the U.S. in response to the tariff war unleashed by Washington, just as its peers are rushing out exports while the bulk of new tariffs are still on hold.
Spain produces about 40% of the world's olive oil and sends about 180,000 metric tons a year to the United States.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
"In the medium to long term, we may have to make more investments in the United States, which ultimately are investments that will be made there instead of Europe," said Antonio Luque, the CEO of Dcoop, one of the two partners behind the top-selling U.S. brand Pompeian.
He said Dcoop, a cooperative of 75,000 families in the southern region of Andalusia, could expand its still modest olive plantations in the United States, where Pompeian has two bottling plants. Last year, Dcoop sales there totalled 240 million euros ($273 million).
President Donald Trump's administration has slapped a 10% tariff on imports of most European goods, including olive oil, although it announced a 90-day pause on Wednesday on higher, 25% "reciprocal" duties.
Luque said the uncertainty around Trump's trade policies made it hard to plan, but that Dcoop still hoped to expand its U.S. market share, believing that a 10% tariff would not significantly hurt sales.
The Spanish exporters' association Asoliva expects the supply of olive oil to surge over the coming months thanks to a recovery from an extended drought, and says likely falls in prices could partially offset the tariffs.
Other producers like Nortoliva, which exports 10% of its production to the U.S., are accelerating their shipments before the 25% tariff rate kicks in.
"We are loading new orders to the U.S. today and next week," said Nortoliva's general director, Jordi Guiu. "Our American customers are increasing orders, they want to bring shipments forward to avoid paying the tariff surcharge in 90 days' time." ($1 = 0.8802 euros)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
TRADING DAY War fears crush confidence
ORLANDO, Florida, June 13 (Reuters) - - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist A week that started with investors in a reasonably optimistic mood, betting that the U.S. and China would strike a deal in their trade talks in London, ended on a sour note as Israel's strike on Iran sparked a sharp rise in oil prices and a selloff in world stocks. Washington and Beijing did reach a 'framework' deal, and although there is some ambiguity around the details and it has yet to be ratified, it helped ease global tariff tensions. Investor sentiment was also boosted by signs that global inflation pressures are cooling. Consumer and producer price inflation figures from the U.S., Japan, India and China were all weaker than expected, although the big caveat is the impact of tariffs has yet to be properly felt. Strong demand for long-dated U.S. Treasuries at auction this week also soothed concerns over U.S. debt sustainability. President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill', the budget deficit and federal debt still loom over the market, but there was a temporary reprieve this week. Not so for the dollar. It slumped to its weakest level against a basket of currencies in more than three years and failed to draw any discernible 'safe haven' demand from the flaring geopolitical risk and tensions in the Middle East. Non-U.S. investors continue to reassess their exposure to dollar-denominated assets. Those wanting to cut their exposure will either sell assets outright, buy less, or hedge more. Many long-term investors in Europe are increasing their hedge ratios, which effectively equates to selling dollars on a large scale. The other big move of the week was oil, which surged nearly 10% at one point on Friday. It cooled a bit, but the specter of high energy prices is suddenly back. If so, what does that do for the inflation outlook? We may get an insight into what policymakers think about that next week. The G7 leaders' summit in Canada gets underway on Sunday, and three of the world's most important central banks deliver their latest policy decisions - the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of England. I'd love to hear from you, so please reach out to me with comments at opens new tab. You can also follow me at @ReutersJamie and @ This Week's Key Market Moves Chart of the Week My generosity knows no bounds, so two charts for you again this week. Both highlight current relative market price dynamics that have not been seen for around half a century. The first from Bank of America shows that, in dollar terms, emerging market stocks are the weakest relative to U.S. stocks in 50 years. BofA analysts are in no doubt what investors should do: "long EM... easy allocation decision." I wrote about this last month. The second chart is from veteran strategist Jim Paulsen, who calculates that the market cap value of U.S. fixed income assets as a share of total U.S. equity market cap is the smallest in over 50 years. Along with a historically low equity risk premium, it raises the question of how much further the gap between stocks and bonds can widen. Emerging markets and bonds, your time is ... now? Here are some of the best things I read this week: What could move markets on Monday? Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Trading Day is also sent by email every weekday morning. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US energy chief monitoring any impacts to global energy supply
WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday he and his team are working with the White House's National Security Council to monitor the situation in Middle East and any potential impacts to global energy supply. Wright said on X, after Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and Iran's response, that President Donald Trump's policy of maximizing U.S. oil and gas output, which also involves slashing pollution regulations, has boosted U.S. energy security. Analysts have said oil and gas sites have not been targeted.
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Airlines divert, suspend flights after Israel's strike on Iran closes airspace in Middle East
Airlines around the world canceled flights to Israel and were skirting a large swath of airspace in the Middle East on Friday after Israel's overnight missile strikes on Iran. Iran later launched drones toward Israeli territory. Delta Air Lines on Friday afternoon said it was suspending its service to Tel Aviv, Israel, until at least September, just weeks after resuming flights there. It had most recently resumed flights on May 20, and as of last week Delta had said it was planning to increase service to Israel later this year from New York to two daily nonstop flights, 'responding to strong winter demand.' United Airlines ' Tel Aviv flights were halted through at least Saturday. Both carriers' Tel Aviv-bound flights turned around over the Atlantic Ocean to return to the New York area after Israel's strikes overnight. United put 26 of its crew members who were on layover in Israel on Israeli airline El Al to get back to the U.S., a spokesman said. El Al has since suspended service. 'Following recent security developments and in accordance with the instructions from the state's security and aviation authorities to close Israeli airspace, all EL AL and Sundor flights are suspended for the time being,' it said on its website. The carrier said it won't take bookings until at least the end of June and warned customers against going to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. 'For customers currently abroad, we recommend arranging accommodation until there is a change in security directives,' El Al said. 'Flights that were en route to Israel have been diverted to land at various EL AL destinations.' Turkish Airlines and European budget carrier Wizz Air also suspended Israel flights. Germany's Lufthansa said it was suspending Tel Aviv and Tehran service until July 31 and flights to Jordan and Lebanon until at least June 20. Emirates said it was canceling service from its base in Dubai to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran. Airlines offered travel vouchers and waived change fees to customers affected by the disruptions. Escalating military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have forced airlines to repeatedly take longer and more costly routes to avoid conflict zones.
