German oilseed processing down 5% in 1st half of 2022-’23 marketing year

In the first half of the running marketing year 2022-’23, German oil mills processed less rapeseed, sunflower seed and fewer soybeans than in the same period a year earlier.

According to information published by the German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), oil mills in Germany processed just under 4.5 million metric tons of rapeseed in the period July through December.

This translates to a decline of just over 5 percent year-on-year.

Processors did not receive new supply from German production until August, which was somewhat late.

According to the BLE, rapeseed processing amounted to only 536,200 tons in July, but increased to 721,200 tons in September and as much as 855,800 tons in October.

The all-time peak was recorded at 883,000 tons of rapeseed in August 2021.

Processing of other oilseeds slowed compared to the previous year’s period, declining just under 11 percent to 1.6 million tons in the half year under review.

A noticeable increase was not recorded until December with processing reaching 323,500 tons, which compared to an average of 258,000 tons in the months before.

Total oilseed processing amounted to just under 6.2 million tons.

This was down 6.8 percent on 2021 and comparable to the figure recorded in 2019.

In general, production of vegetable oils and meals saw a slight decrease.