LISBON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- A decrease in production of olives by at least 30 percent in 2016 will lead to a rise in the cost of olive oil, local media agency Lusa reported on Monday.
"Unfortunately, the year of 2016 was, from a climatic point of view, very bad for agriculture and led to low production in several sectors, notably in oil," Lusa quoted Capoulas Santos, Portugal's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, as saying.
Alentejo's olive oil producers also admitted a drop in the production of olives, in a region that produces at least 70 percent of national olive oil.
The production of oil saw a drop of around 40 percent compared with the average amount produced in other years, and a drop of 10 percent compared with 2015.
Lusa reported that the price of olives in the year of 2015 was between 35 and 38 cents per kilo, while the average was 48 cents per kilo in 2016.
The National Institute of Statistics revealed on Feb. 17 that the production of olives for oil in Portugal dropped 30 percent in 2016 to 491,000 tons.
Last year's production was affected by rain in May, which affected the bloom of trees, and by late heat, according to the Lusa report. Enditem
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