Bulgaria: Rapeseed processing keeps expanding even as the harvest falls

Bulgaria is no longer behaving like a classic raw-seed exporter. It is turning into an oil and biodiesel producer. The model is simple and getting clearer each month: rapeseed goes to oil; oil goes to biofuel. The driver is not the size of the local crop any more. The driver is EU energy demand and crush margin. This is the same Danube–Balkan shift we see in other parts of the region: less value in selling seed, more value in selling oil.

Season 2024/25 was the weakest rapeseed year for Bulgaria since 2008/09.

Rapeseed exports were down 47% y/y. For the seventh season in a row almost all Bulgarian rapeseed went inside the EU, with only small volumes to Turkey.

At the same time crush is going up.

Forecasts for 2026 harvest based on expanded area and slightly better yields. After a painful low crop, farmers are coming back to rapeseed due to guaranteed demand from crushers.