Asaja Córdoba has asked the Spanish Agency for Information and Food Control (AICA) "to provide more detailed information about the error detected in the data corresponding to the month of May in the olive oil market" and "to thoroughly review the information provided during the previous months of the current campaign."
As the agrarian organization indicated in a statement, "the recent rectification made by AICA highlights the enormous importance of the transparency and reliability of the data that serve as a reference for the olive sector and the entire market."
For Asaja Córdoba, "what happened demonstrates the extent to which numbers are especially sensitive in critical moments for the sector," recalling that, "after the publication of the erroneous data, there was a significant halt in commercial operations, generating a situation of uncertainty that contributed to further destabilization of prices."
In this regard, it has been emphasized that "in the days following the error, there was a great slowdown in market operations. This situation could have influenced price evolution and could even affect the data corresponding to the month of June," as warned by Asaja Córdoba.
Given this scenario, the organization has conveyed its "concern" and considers it necessary "to thoroughly analyze what happened, as well as to strengthen control mechanisms over the information provided by operators," since "even small percentages of error in the data communicated to AICA could generate mistaken expectations in the market and cause direct consequences on the prices perceived by producers."
Asaja Córdoba considers it "essential to know exactly what happened for the subsequent rectification of the data to occur" and, therefore, demands that AICA "clarify whether the incident was due to a simple transcription error, to the lack of information submission by an operator, or to any other circumstance that may have altered the initially published figures."
The agricultural organization has detailed that "the current market situation continues to be characterized by tight supplies", and has specified that "stocks as of May 31 are at levels very similar to those recorded on the same date last year, when they reached 774,988 tons. If the current market trend continues in the coming months, the campaign could close with final stocks also very similar".
Asaja Córdoba has also pointed out that these stock levels are below the average of the previous three campaigns, a circumstance that, in its opinion, "should be reflected more clearly in market behavior and price formation" and, consequently, has reiterated the urgency of "reinforcing transparency, guaranteeing the maximum reliability of official data, and offering the sector complete and detailed information that allows avoiding uncertainties and ensuring the proper functioning of the olive oil market".