Bulgaria. Rapeseed market. Current situation

For crop 2026, winter rapeseed sowing was over with area of 156.5 K ha, up 55% y/y. This is a strong acreage expansion and clearly signals that farmers are confident in RPS as a risk-management crop vs. grains, mainly corn.

The key uncertainty remains winter weather. Farmers expect a repeat of last winter’s favorable conditions and hope for minimal losses. In Dec, RPS crops are in the rosette phase and near-term weather conditions remain supportive.

Early in Dec, Bulgaria imported the first of Canadian RPS. Total RPS imports in 2025/26 is 133.6 K mt (July-Dec 2025), broadly in line with last season.

Lower imports highlight, that in the current 2025/26 season RPS imports is more cautious, as crushers are waiting for clear signals from the EU market.

According to UkrAgroConsult, Bulgaria imported 14.5 K mt of Ukrainian rapeseed oil in Dec and 13.8 K mt in Nov.

As of early December, Bulgarian processing plants continued crushing RPS at a rate of 1.2-1.5 K mt per week. In previous seasons, processing accelerated already in Nov.

The slowdown in Bulgarian rapeseed processing is explained by the broader EU market conditions. Canada redirected canola flows toward the EU as Canadian 2025 canola crop is high, while demand from the US and China is weak. In addition to canola, Canada actively shipped rapeseed meal to the EU.

As a result, global RPO and meal prices follow a downward scenario. Heavy meal imports to Bulgaria mean strong competition with domestically produced products. The rising imports of Ukrainian RPO into Bulgaria clearly confirm this pressure on local crushers.

Further market scenarios will largely depend on Canada trade relations with the US and China. Any shift there could rapidly redirect RPS and oil and meal away from the EU. Another key uncertainty is the outlook for Australian rapeseed imports into the EU.