Olive oil prices skyrocket due to global shortage

The Street

TheStreet’s Sara Silverstein brings you the biggest news of the day, including the market reaction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and why olive oil has become so expensive.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Sarah Silverstein reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:03 Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:05 Markets are reacting to rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

00:09 Wall Street was rattled over the weekend as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated.

00:14 Oil prices surged on the news as investors worry that major crude-producing countries

00:18 could be pulled into war.

00:20 A sustained jump in oil prices would only add to inflationary pressures ahead of the

00:24 Fed's November meeting on interest rates.

00:27 Meanwhile, thanks to drought, extreme heat and wildfires, the world's olive oil harvest

00:31 has been ravaged.

00:32 Spain, which is responsible for half the world's olive oil supply, has reported a 48 percent

00:38 drop in production compared to last year.

00:41 Increasing the issue is Turkey, which despite a good harvest, has banned bulk exports to

00:45 ensure its own supply.

00:47 The current cost of a metric ton of olive oil now sits at $9,000, compared to the cost

00:52 of crude oil, which is about $670 a ton.

00:56 Now no one literally needs a ton of olive oil to cook with at home, but retail prices

01:01 have increased by 12.5 percent due to the shortage.

01:04 And that's on top of the 8.8 percent increase in 2022.

01:08 The average cost of a bottle of olive oil in the U.S. now is about $9.92.

01:14 And finally, the Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Harvard University professor

01:18 Claudia Golden.

01:20 She is the third woman to ever win the prize.

01:22 Golden won the award thanks to her research into women's income and employment with

01:26 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, saying Golden "uncovered key drivers of gender

01:31 differences in the labor market."

01:33 That'll do it for your daily briefing.

01:35 From the New York Stock Exchange, I'm Sarah Silverstein with the Street.

01:38 Thanks.

01:38 [END]

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