US and Ukraine dominate EU oilseed imports, but overall imports down 6% year-on-year

In Germany, UFOP reports that the Ukraine has become more important for EU rapeseed supply, the US supplied large amounts of soybeans over the past months, and that the EU-28 has received around 8.7 million tonnes of soybeans from overseas in the 2019/20 season to date. This is down just about 6 per cent year-on-year.

At the same time, there has been an obvious shift in the flow of goods. At 52 per cent, the US has supplied the largest share of total imports since the marketing year began on 1 July 2019. This was also the case in the same period in 2017/18, but both the share and absolute amount were considerably bigger back then – at 79 per cent and 7.1 million tonnes respectively. The lower shipments in the current season are probably mainly due to the smaller US harvest (down 20 per cent from the previous year). By contrast, Canada supplied a surprisingly large volume. The country octupled its shipments compared to the previous year.

Where rapeseed is concerned, Ukraine is the top supplier to the EU-28, having provided around 2.8 million tonnes in the current season. This translates to a rise of just under one third from the same period a year earlier. According to information published by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), Ukraine has therefore become significantly more important as a country of origin for EU rapeseed imports. Canada has also gained importance this marketing year. The country more than quadrupled its shipments to over 1 million tonnes, relegating Australia to third place. The reasons were pressure from the large rapeseed volumes in Canada in the wake of the absence of exports to China and drought-related lower supply in Australia.