India emerges as China’s largest rapeseed meal supplier due to tariffs on Canada

China’s introduction of preliminary anti-dumping duties on rapeseed imports from Canada in August alongside previous duties imposed in March 2025 on rapeseed meal and oil from Canada, meant China now had prohibitive tariffs on all Canadian canola products, the September Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade report said.

Canada had supplied the bulk of China’s rapeseed meal imports until May 2025, when the impact of tariffs became noticeable, the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) report said.

China’s domestic rapeseed production has been insufficient to meet its feed demand and to ensure ample supply for domestic industries, it was engaging with alternative trade partners to replace Canadian sourced rapeseed products, according to the report.

The uptick in China’s imports of Indian rapeseed meal came against a backdrop of reduced Indian domestic rapeseed meal consumption due to an increased use of dried distillers grains (DDGs) as feed following the introduction of a higher ethanol blending rate.

The trend was backed up by Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) data which showed Indian rapeseed meal exports to China totalled almost 100,000 tonnes in July.

In 2025/26, China was expected to import 2.6M tonnes of rapeseed meal which, although 400,000 tonnes higher than the previous estimate, would be a three-year low.

Tariffs on rapeseed imports from Canada were expected to reduce China’s total rapeseed imports due to limited eligible suppliers, according to the report.

Australia was in discussion with China to develop a phytosanitary framework after being shut out of the market since 2020 due to detections of blackleg disease.

Access could be restored after a protocol is reached and successful trial shipments are made, according to the report.

“Without Canada and Australia, 2025/26 China rapeseed imports are forecast at 4.1M tonnes, 700,000 lower than the previous estimate and a four-year low,” the USDA said.

The report also showed that imports of palm kernel (PK) meal by New Zealand – the world’s largest PK meal importer increased by 200,000 tonnes in 2024/25 to a record high of 2.7M tonnes.

With its large dairy industry, New Zealand imports PK meal as a major feed ingredient for dairy cattle and accounted for nearly 30% of global PK meal imports in 2023/24.

Following a decline in national herd numbers in 2022/23 in response to domestic environmental policy changes limiting fertiliser use for grazing pasture, consumption of PK meal was forecast to increase as national herd numbers recovered slightly.

Assuming normal weather conditions, New Zealand is forecast to import 2.5M tonnes of PK meal in 2025/26, down 200,000 tonnes from the previous year.

Indonesia is the leading exporter of PK meal to New Zealand with a market share of almost 60%, with Malaysia the second largest supplier with a share of over 40%, according to the report.

Tags: tariffs, China, Canada, Production, India, Feed, rapeseed, imports, rapeseed meal, demand, anti-dumping duties