Farmers feel squeeze as olive oil price slips

Plunging olive oil prices are leaving Middle East farmers struggling, with margins squeezed by the economic woes of heavily indebted Mediterranean countries. Olive oil prices fell to US$2,921.46 per tonne last month, compared with highs of $5,853.98 per tonne in 2006, according to data from the IMF. Countries in the Levant, where olives were first cultivated for use in oils, account for more than a quarter of global production and a significant quantity of exports, according to the International Olive Oil Council.