Olives on a processing line at an olive oil plant in Spain. Archive photograph. Photo: Carlos Alonso / Unsplash.
Spanish mills must hold back part of their new-season oil from November, with the government estimating that about 188,000 tonnes will be kept off the market.
Spain has activated compulsory olive oil storage for the 2026/27 campaign. A resolution published in the Official State Gazette on 6 November requires every mill to keep 12% of the production it declares from November onwards out of the market until 30 September 2027. It took effect on publication.
The resolution puts into operation the marketing order of 30 October, whose rules OliveTerm reported at the time. The agriculture ministry puts the withdrawal at about 188,000 tonnes. That is its estimate of the oil to be withheld over the campaign, not a quantity already taken off the market.
How the 12% obligation works
The percentage applies to each mill's production declared from November 2026. Oil declared for October, the first month of the campaign, and anything earlier is excluded. The stored volume must equal 12% of the mill's accumulated production from November at all times, so the quantity held grows with each monthly declaration.
Mills choose which category of olive oil to withhold and may store it in their own tanks or at another facility. The withheld oil must appear as stored in the monthly declarations to SIMO, Spain's olive oil market information system, and mills must be able to document the quantity withheld and where it is kept whenever the authorities ask. The regional governments carry out the checks, under a control plan to be approved by a technical monitoring group that the ministry coordinates.
For a mill that declares 100 tonnes of oil from November, the rule means holding 12 tonnes until the end of September. The obligation does not reduce the oil produced, but it delays sales and ties up tank space and working capital.
Why Spain has intervened
The resolution states that the supply threshold set by the October order has been reached. It rests on opening stocks of 357,040 tonnes declared to SIMO and on the regions' production forecast of 1,602,596 tonnes, which the ministry says is 23% above last campaign's and would make 2026/27 the fourth-largest crop on record.
Under the order, the withdrawal is activated when opening stocks plus forecast production reach 120% of the average of that sum over the previous six campaigns. The percentage then depends on how far estimated resources, average imports included, exceed 120% of the average of the two highest marketing totals of the last six campaigns, with a ceiling of 20% of estimated production.
The ministry says the measure aims to prevent market distortions and give the sector stability. Its effect on prices will depend on the harvest actually delivered, on demand and on how much oil mills hold back as the campaign develops.
Cooperatives question the October exclusion
Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía welcomed the activation and said it hoped prices would recover. It does not understand, however, why oil produced in October is excluded, arguing that the exception treats producers in the same campaign differently according to when they harvest. The federation also warned that oil made in the first days of November could be wrongly declared as October production to avoid the storage obligation, and asked the ministry to reconsider the exclusion.
Spain's competition authority, the CNMC, warned on 5 October, in its report on the draft order, that the measure could raise prices and reduce the variety and quality of what is on offer. It recommended limiting any withdrawal to the categories where it is needed. The report concerned the draft order, not Friday's resolution.
What happens next
From 31 December 2026 the ministry will review the revised production estimates and may lower the quantity to be withheld through a further resolution. The order provides for a downward adjustment only. Until then, the 12% obligation stands, with the oil held until 30 September 2027.