EU rapeseed imports at 3-year low

EU rapeseed imports this marketing season fell to a three-year low on reduced export availability in Canada, while rapeseed oil (RSO) arrivals reached an all-time high.

The EU-27 imported 2.08mn t of rapeseed on 1 July-12 December, provisional data from the European Commission show. This was down from 3.23mn t a year earlier and the lowest since 2018-19, when imports stood at 2.12mn t.

The sharp drop in EU imports came as canola production in Canada — the bloc’s major supplier of product — was heavily affected by summer drought this year and fell to 12.6mn t from 19.5mn t a year earlier, according to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.

Only 92,627t of Canadian canola has been imported to the EU-27 so far this season, compared with 1.35mn t over July-December 2020.

Ukraine has led rapeseed exports to the EU so far this year, having supplied 1.51mn t of product on 1 July-12 December. But this is below last year’s levels despite the bumper production of about 3mn t in 2021-22, as Ukraine increased rapeseed exports to other destinations — particularly to Pakistan, Bangladesh and the UAE — as well as domestic crushing.

Australia remains the third-largest supplier of rapeseed to the EU-27, having provided 13.9pc of overall arrivals so far this season. And the country is expected to ramp up its exports to the bloc from January onwards, following greater canola production this season, with Australia’s overall exports projected to reach 4.6mn t in 2021-22, up from 3.3mn t a year earlier, USDA data show.

RSO imports offset falling rapeseed imports

Meanwhile, lower rapeseed imports to the EU were offset by record RSO arrivals, having reached 272,080t since the start of the marketing year in July, nearly twice the 143,541t over the same period in 2020.

The surge in RSO imports to the EU has been driven by the Netherlands and Poland, with arrivals reaching 83,450t and 75,493t, respectively, from 16,440t and 47,752t a year earlier.

Ukraine has supplied the most RSO to the bloc so far this season, at 124,325t, or 45.7pc of overall arrivals to the EU — followed by Belarus and Russia, with 51,618t and 42,757t, respectively.

Argus Media

Tags: Russia, UAE, EU, Poland, Pakistan, импорт, rapeseed, Belarus, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ukraine