The area under winter rapeseed in Germany will decrease by 4-7%

It is expected that the acreage of winter rapeseed in Germany for the 2024 harvest will decrease by 4-7%, to 1.09-1.13 mln ha, according to the German oilseeds producers association UFOP.

Unfavorable weather hindered sowing: rainy summer prevented an early start, followed by a change to very dry autumn weather, the report said.

The fall in rapeseed prices last year made the oilseed less attractive to farmers.

The UFOP survey is traditionally the first detailed report on the future rapeseed plantings in Germany. The country competes with France for the title of Europe’s largest producer of rapeseed, which is used for edible oils, animal feed and biodiesel.

According to UFOP, the rapeseed crops in Germany are currently in “good to very good” condition, which allows the crops to prepare better for winter.

Heavy rains in October-November, although undesirable for winter crops, were positive for rapeseed and helped to replenish water reserves after a dry fall.

According to the association, the drop in rapeseed prices on the Paris Euronext COMc1 exchange in 2023, which curbed rapeseed plantings in Germany, was partly caused by large imports of allegedly used edible oils from China for biodiesel production.

The European Union Commission announced in August that it had launched an investigation into whether biodiesel from Indonesia had been circumventing EU import duties by going through China and the UK.

The UFOP estimates that in the first half of 2023, the EU imported about half a million tons of biodiesel from China, which it says was imported in the form of used oils. This has reduced the use of rapeseed oil in Europe for biofuel production, reducing demand for rapeseed.

The demand outlook for 2024 is more positive, as the EU is phasing out palm oil for biofuel production to prevent deforestation of tropical forests in Asia for palm plantations.

Tags: prices, rapeseed, Germany, sown area