Smaller EU rapeseed harvest boosts demand for imports

The EU Commission significantly lowered expectations concerning the European 2024 rapeseed harvest at the end of last year, reducing its forecast to approximately 17.2 million metric tons.

Given the smaller crop and an expected rapeseed-processing volume of about 23 million tons, this means that the EU will rely more on imports.

Most imports go to German oil mills, which have a processing capacity of approximately 10 million tons of rapeseed.

Whereas Ukraine was the most important rapeseed source in the first half of the crop year, Canada and Australia moved into focus towards the turn of the year.

Between the beginning of the 2024-’25 crop year and Jan. 19, EU rapeseed imports totaled 3.4 million tons, representing an increase of more than 5 percent over the previous year.

Accounting for 63 percent of EU imports, Ukraine remains the key country of origin, as in previous years, seeing a slight rise in deliveries from 2.1 million tons the previous year to 2.2 million tons.

The second wave of imports from Australia will increasingly move into focus in the second half of the crop year.

By mid-January, Australia had already placed 875,000 tons of rapeseed on the EU market.

According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), this represents a rise of around 19 percent on the previous year’s reference period.

Accounting for almost 26 percent of EU rapeseed imports, Australia remains the second-most important rapeseed supplier to the EU, followed by Canada with 144,000 tons.

Canadian deliveries more than tripled compared to the previous year, if at a low level.

Because Canadian farmers grow genetically modified varieties, the use of rapeseed oil derived from Canadian rapeseed is restricted in the EU.

Imports from Canada are therefore mainly used for biofuel production.

In contrast, Serbia and Moldova supplied only a fraction of the previous year’s volume.