EU-COM estimates 2023 rapeseed harvest at 19.8 million t The EU Commission (EU-KOM) published its harvest estimate for the rapeseed market in its spring edition of "Short Term Outlooks". The 2023 harvest is forecast to be around 1% higher at 19.8 million tonnes. With unchanged earnings prospects compared to the previous year, the increased acreage decisively determines the new result. In the individual EU member states, the results are very different due to the previous weather conditions. Favorable conditions in south-eastern Europe are expected to boost the Romanian rapeseed harvest from last year's 1.1 to 1.6 million tons. An increase of 28% to 0.4 million t is also expected in Bulgaria . In the Czech Republic, rapeseed production is estimated at a slightly higher 1.2 million tons. On the other hand, the unfavorable weather conditions in Poland led to a reduction of 8% to this year's 3.37 million t production. In Denmark , the rapeseed harvest is rated even worse with a drop of almost 24%.French production is also suffering from the drought, especially in the south; the rapeseed harvest fell by -3.7% to 4.34 million t. Rapeseed production in Germany is estimated at 4.53 million t or +5.2% higher than in the previous year and after years it is again the leading producer country in the EU. On the consumption side , a decline from the previous year's 25.3 to 24.8 million tons is expected in the EU-27. The background is the falling demand from the use of rapeseed oil with a focus on biodiesel. The expected drop in consumption is also associated with a future lower import volume of 5.8 million t (previous year 6.2 million t). After the war-related surge in rapeseed prices at times to over 1,000 €/t in 2022, the current prices have moved back to a range between 450 and under 500 €/t. Forward rates point in the same direction for the rest of the year.
