Ukraine tops Germany's list of imported rapeseed

Germany imported a total of 5.4 million metric tons of rapeseed and field mustard in the 2019-'20 season. This was down 7 percent year-on-year. The main reason was harvest declines in some EU countries that are vital to Germany's supply of rapeseed.

France is traditionally the most important supplier of rapeseed to Germany. The country supplied more than 1.5 million tons of rapeseed on average in the crop years 2014-'15 to 2018-'19. This translates to one-fourth of total German rapeseed imports. However, 2019 was a disappointing crop year also for France and export opportunities were correspondingly limited. As a result, Germany received no more than 870,000 tons from France in 2019-'20. This was a 44 percent slump compared to both the previous year and the five-year average. Imports from other EU countries also decreased, for example from Romania, the Czech Republic and Belgium. Overall, Germany's imports from other EU countries in 2019-'20 saw a more than 15 percent decline year-on-year to 3.7 million tons.

Imports from other countries, above all Ukraine and Canada, offset this drop, at least partially. In recent years, Ukraine has steadily gained in importance as a rapeseed supplier for Germany. The Black Sea state contributed around 992,000 tons to German rapeseed supply in 2019-'20, just over one-third more than the previous year. However, the strongest rise was in imports from Canada. The country delivered around 372,000 tons in 2019-'20, many times the quantities delivered in previous years. The previous year's volume alone was exceeded more than fivefold. This was against the background of increasing Canadian shipments to Europe in the wake of the trade dispute with China.

Germany covers just more than 60 percent of its rapeseed needs with commodity from abroad.