Source: Ukragroconsult (Ukraine)
At just under 5.7 million tons, EU rapeseed imports from third countries remain well below the previous year’s volume of 7.5 million tons, i.e. down 24%.
In terms of origin, two trading partners stand out in particular: Ukraine and Australia. At the same time, the flow of goods has changed significantly. While deliveries from Ukraine increased by around 6% to almost 3.2 million tons, deliveries from Australia fell by around 43% to just under 1.9 million tons. The reason for the lower imports from Down Under is the smaller rapeseed harvest, which totalled 4.9 million tons, around 1.2 million tons less than in the 2022/2023 marketing year. This significantly limited the export potential.
Rapeseed imports from Moldova to the EU tripled to almost 250,000 tons. It can be assumed that the majority of this comes from Ukraine. Canada, on the other hand, only supplied 100,000 tons, 59% less than in 2022/23, with a significant increase in domestic consumption and exports to the USA – both for biofuel production. At 18.3 million tons, the Canadian harvest in 2023 is even higher than in the previous year.