Oilseed forecasts for 2018/2019 could top last year’s production

In Germany, UFOP reports that according to the EU Commission’s first forecasts, the 2018/19 oilseed output in the EU-28 could top last year’s production. The rapeseed crop in particular is estimated higher.

In its latest monthly report, the EU Commission pegged the 2018 EU-28 oilseed harvest at 35.5 million tonnes. Consequently, production of rapeseed, sunflower seed and soybeans would exceed the previous year’s amount by 1.6 per cent or 0.6 million tonnes. According to the outlook, the volume of production of rapeseed, the most important oilseed in the EU-28, could grow 4.5 per cent to around 22.8 million tonnes in 2018. Soybean output is projected at 2.8 million tonnes, just less than 0.4 per cent above the previous year’s level, although the soybean area could decline almost 7 per cent from a year earlier to 0.9 million hectares. Sunflower production is seen to shrink 4.2 per cent to 9.9 million tonnes grown on a 3.4 per cent smaller area.