Oil: 40 million oil bill of exchange launched to give oil mills in crisis a lifeline
The scheme launched by the Ministry of Agriculture will be administered by Ismea through interest-free loans ranging from a minimum of 3,500 euros to 50,000 euros
Key points
A first breath of fresh air to help Italian olive oil mills weather the crisis. These businesses have found themselves caught in an ‘olive oil trap’, having purchased olive oil from last season at a very high price and subsequently found themselves unable to sell it off at a loss when market prices fell, in the hope that prices would rebound.
The trap of unsold stock
But this recovery never materialised, and so today Italian olive oil mills are literally awash (according to some estimates) with around 200,000 tonnes of unsold oil. And the next harvest season is already looming on the horizon.
Ismea’s ‘olive oil mill bill of exchange’ scheme gets underway
In an attempt to break this deadlock, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty has launched the ISMEA ‘Oil Mill Bill of Exchange’ scheme. This scheme, with a budget of 40 million euros, will enable businesses to access interest-free loans to restart their operations.
The initiative – as explained by Masaf – was set up to provide financial breathing space for oil mills and small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector, ensuring they have the necessary resources to cover running costs and manage the production phase.
Lollobrigida: an immediate response to the sector’s needs
“The ‘Cambiale Frantoi Oleari’ scheme,” commented the Minister for Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, “is a concrete and immediate response to the sector’s needs. We are providing agricultural and processing businesses with a simple and accessible tool, capable of injecting direct, interest-free liquidity to support production activities, protect farmers’ incomes and promote Italian olive oil to the full. Ensuring the financial stability of olive oil mills means safeguarding the entire national olive oil supply chain and strengthening the competitiveness of our ‘Made in Italy’ products on the markets.”
