Mintec proposes to launch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil assessments

All Market Notes 1 June 2023

Mintec proposes to launch Olive Oil Index Mintec Benchmark Prices  

Mintec is proposing to launch two index Mintec Benchmark Prices for extra virgin olive oil. The proposed indexes would represent conventional and organic extra virgin olive oil prices at a European Union level. Mintec is collecting feedback on this proposal from market participants in the olive oil markets until Thursday, 15th June 2023. Mintec is proposing to launch this assessment, if supported by the industry, on Friday 30th June, 2023.

The proposed specifications and weightings for these index assessments can be found below: 

The proposed assessment would reflect the transactable value at 16:00:00 London time.

The proposed index assessments would use a basket of underlying Mintec Benchmark Prices from different European olive oil-producing countries, combined with a calculation that takes olive oil production statistics (in tonnes) of each of those countries and applies a weighting.

Countries taken into consideration for the proposed European olive oil indexes are Spain, Greece and Italy. The proposed weighting is based on a fixed 5-season average (2017/18 to 2021/22) for olive oil production. The production statistics are published by the European Commission and can be accessed here.

The proposed weightings are as follows: Spain 70.98%, Greece 13.21% and Italy 15.81%. The proposed assessment for the conventional extra virgin olive oil index would use series JG23 for Spain, WJ43 for Italy and OO15 for Greece, weighted as above. For the proposed assessment for the organic extra virgin olive oil index would use series OOOG for Greece, OOOI for Italy and OOOS for Spain weighted as above.

The proposed assessments would be rounded to the nearest Euro cent using the rule that decimals of four (4) or less round down, and decimals of five (5) or above round up, e.g. €1.744 would be rounded to €1.74, and €1.755 would be rounded to €1.76.

The proposed olive indexes would provide an independent reference point at a European level for extra virgin olive oil and allow for Mintec subscribers to visualise movement in the wider European markets. Additionally utilising these proposed assessments for risk management purposes would provide an opportunity for market participants to effectively hedge against market conditions when sourcing from multiple origins.

Please send any questions or comments about this market note to Methodology@mintecglobal.com, by Thursday, 15th June 2023 and clearly state which market note your comments relate to, and if the comments are intended for publication by Mintec.