“In the case of sunflower oil, there is a huge impact because the main producers are Russia and Ukraine”, said Manuel Ramirez, president of the Matosinhos canning company, in the district of Porto.

As part of a visit by the Minister of the Sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos, to the company's facilities, the official noted that, for now, "old contracts that are being fulfilled".

"We found an alternative in olive oil, but olive oil is highly speculated, so it is also difficult to have a, let's say, balanced solution", said the businessman.

As for energy prices, he stated that it is something that he cannot "control", estimating, at the current moment, an "impact of more than one and a half million euros for a company that invoices between 30 and 35 million euros".

Another relevant aspect is aluminium, the raw material used to make cans, of which both Ukraine and Russia are producers.

"The cans, at this moment, have already gone up. They have gone up with Covid, but we also know that production and the large producers of raw material, aluminium, are in these areas", he stressed.

As alternatives to the scarcity of the various raw materials, the cannery from Matosinhen said that it was, "as always", buying in advance, also counting on "the luck of some of the suppliers" to maintain prices, but "it is not certain".