German rapeseed imports increased on previous years

The slightly smaller German rapeseed harvest has led to an increase in demand for imports especially from Ukraine, Poland and Romania.
According to information published by the German Federal Statistical Office, Germany imported around 3.5 million tonnes of rapeseed in the first half of the 2023/2024 crop year (2.6 million tonnes; 2022/2023), with around 2.2 million tonnes originating from EU neighbour countries.
Romania was a major supplier, accounting for 696,600 tonnes, followed by Poland with 523,200 tonnes and France with 303,900 tonnes.
However, Germany received by far the biggest volume, 995,600 tonnes, from Ukraine. Ukraine nearly doubled its delivery volume on the previous year despite the ongoing war, retaining its position as the number one rapeseed supplier to Germany.
Traditionally, other important origins include Canada and Australia, but Canada did not contribute any significant quantities during the period stated for the first time in five years. According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, shipments from Australia also declined as a result of a significant reduction in the country's production area.
More specifically, Germany received only 165,800 tonnes from Australia in the first half of the crop year, less than half the previous year’s amount of 405,000 tonnes.
Looking at the marketing year, Germany is the largest net importer in the EU with an average of 5.5 to 5.7 million tonnes.
The country's oil mills process a total of approximately 9.4 million tonnes of rapeseed per year. For this reason, export figures are considerably lower.
In the first six months of the current season, Germany only exported around 30,300 tonnes of rapeseed in total.
This compares to 39,600 tonnes the previous year which saw a larger harvest. Most German rapeseed goes to other EU member states. More specifically, around 8,600 tonnes were exported to France and 3,200 tonnes and 2,100 tonnes shipped to the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively.