The EU-27 is likely to harvest less rapeseed due to drought conditions in the region earlier in the year, dropping below Canada to become the second largest global rapeseed producer, Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP) wrote.

According to United States of Agriculture (USDA) data, the global rapeseed harvest in the 2023/24 crop year was expected to total around 87.4M tonnes, which would be around 200,000 tonnes higher than the previous month’s forecast.

However, the 2022/23 harvest had been 900,000 tonnes larger at 88.3M tonnes, UFOP’s 28 July report said.

The USDA’s upward revision was based on expectations of Ukraine’s harvest increasing by 800,000 tonnes to 4M tonnes.

In contrast, rapeseed output in the EU-27 was expected to be lower than forecast in June.

According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the USDA’s outlook for other leading global producers remained unchanged from its June forecasts.

The USDA estimated global rapeseed consumption in the 2023/24 season at around 85.7M tonnes, up 400,000 tonnes compared with the previous year.

Stocks at the end of the crop year were expected to total 6.4M tonnes, an increase of 200,000 tonnes compared to the previous year with EU-27 ending stocks estimated at around 1.4M tonnes.

China’s ending stocks were also forecast at 1.6M tonnes.