Germany’s rapeseed imports decline despite smaller domestic supply

Germany harvested less rapeseed in 2024 than in the previous year.

Despite the smaller domestic supply, rapeseed imports in the first half of the 2024-’25 season remained below the previous year’s levels.

According to data from the German Federal Statistical Office, Germany imported approximately 3.1 million metric tons of rapeseed in the first half of the 2024-’25 season, an 8 percent decline compared to the previous year.

Ukraine remains the primary country of origin in the current season.

Despite the ongoing war, the country delivered 1.3 million tons to the German market, around 28 percent more year-on-year.

This was the largest volume on record.

The increase is driven by concerns over further attacks on Ukrainian warehouse and transport facilities.

According to Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), the pace of deliveries is expected to slow in the second half of the marketing year, as Ukraine itself can only draw on a harvest that is 21 percent smaller than the previous year.

Meanwhile, the focus is moving toward the second supply wave from Australia, the second-largest supplier.

With 378,900 tons delivered so far, Australia has more than doubled its exports to Germany compared to the previous year’s 161,600 tons.

Neighboring EU countries supplied approximately 1.4 million tons, a 32 percent decline year-on-year.

The largest EU suppliers were Lithuania (337,000 tons) followed by France (310,000 tons) and Romania (237,000 tons).

Germany is the EU’s largest net importer with annual imports averaging between 5.5 million tons and 5.7 million tons.

This is due to the fact that German oil mills process approximately 9.4 million tons of rapeseed per year, keeping exports relatively low.

In the first six months of the current season, Germany exported only around 32,900 tons of rapeseed, which was up 6 percent on the same period last year despite the smaller domestic harvest.

Most German rapeseed exports go to other EU member states with Belgium (around 9,100 tons), Poland (4,100 tons) and the Netherlands (3,800 tons) as the primary destinations.