EU rapeseed imports from non-EU countries fall 24%

At just under 5.7 million metric tons, EU-27 rapeseed imports from non-EU countries fell well short of the previous year’s volume of 7.5 million tons, representing a 24 percent decrease. 

EU rapeseed imports from non-EU countries declined sharply compared to the previous year.

Two trading partners stood out in terms of origins: Ukraine and Australia.  

Also, the flow of goods changed significantly, with imports from Ukraine increasing around 6 percent to just under 3.2 million tons, while deliveries from Australia decreased around 43 percent to nearly 1.9 million tons.  

The decline in imports from Australia was due to a smaller rapeseed harvest, which was down approximately 1.2 million tons compared to the 2022-’23 marketing year, to 4.9 million tons, severely curtailing export potential. 

EU rapeseed imports from Moldova tripled to just under 250,000 tons.  

There is reason to assume that a major portion originated from Ukraine.  

On the other hand, Canada delivered barely 100,000 tons, representing a 59 percent decline from 2022-’23.  

The drop was due to increasing domestic consumption and exports to the U.S.—in both cases for biofuel production.  

Notably, the 2023 Canadian harvest was even larger than the previous year’s, at 18.3 million tons.