(Finance) – A difficult 2022 and a 2023 that certainly does not appear to be going downhill, due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, price increases and climate change. Yet companies have once again demonstrated a great capacity for resilience in facing the challenges of the internal market and exports. The analysis comes from ASSITOL, the Italian Association of the oil industryadhering to Federalimentare And Confindustria, which on the occasion of the annual meeting reaffirmed the need to build a new model of work and production, based on technology, research and sustainability.
“We’ve had a complicated season, which hasn’t ended yet – he explained Riccardo Cassetta, president of ASSITOL – the Association intends to continue supporting businesses in all possible ways, but a change of pace is essential. Otherwise, we will no longer be able to cope with the effects of geopolitical instability and the periodic consequences of extreme weather.”
Various factors have influenced the performance of the companies, which have affected all the components of the Association: from olive oil to seed oils, from semi-finished products for bread, pizzeria and pastry, up to baking yeast and agro-energy. The first is the war in Ukraine, which has unleashed steep price increases on raw materials, of which both Russia and Ukraine itself are important suppliers. Just think of the natural gas essential for energy supply, fertilizers, and sunflower oil, difficult to find until a few months ago.
This first backlash was joined by one unstoppable drought, followed in autumn by extreme weather phenomena, which put not only national agriculture in deep difficulty but that of the entire Mediterranean. L’olive oil, according to Ismea data, has lost almost 30% of its production in Italy. Spain, the world’s leading producer, has seen its quantities halved. Companies in the sector have had to face the lack of oil in parallel with the increase in energy and that of packaging.
It didn’t go better with i cereals and oilseeds, basic for different sectors such as seed oils, bread-making and confectionery, bioenergy. In addition to sunflower, an essential ingredient in the food industry, energy price increases and droughts have caused a 15% drop in wheat production, while soybean production, which sees us in first place in Europe, barely managed to cover 35% of the national requirement. Corn is also bad, with its quantities at historic lows.
“Such a negative picture has led to rising costs for companies and inflation for households – he observed Cassette –. Yet our companies have been able to react, demonstrating an extraordinary ability to respond”. The fact remains that after a drought in 2022, the first half of 2023 is instead characterized by alluvial rains, which could re-propose the problem of the lack of raw materials. ” For these reasons – observed the ASSITOL president – we believe that the contribution of science and digitization is now essential against climate change. At the same time, we must strengthen our emancipation from foreign energy supply and value our bioenergy. In both areas, ASSITOL is available to offer its contribution to the institutions”.
Alongside the resilience of companies, ASSITOL is also celebrating the arrival of a new associative group. The annual meeting has in fact sanctioned the birth of AILMA, the Italian Food Corn Processing Association, which represents companies specializing in the production of vegetable protein meals. “ASSITOL, born with a strong oil soul, over the years has opened up to other worlds – is the comment of Cassette – related to the Mediterranean Diet, such as bread and yeast. This new group will help us strengthen our historic commitment to good, healthy, safe and sustainable food.”