Bulgaria’s rapeseed market to see no tipping point in the new season

The Ag Ministry of Bulgaria has published preliminary data on the 2018 harvest. According to its figures, the total rapeseed crop decreased to 471 KMT (down 1.7% from 2017), even though rape plantings had expanded to a four-year high of 185 Th ha (up 12% from 2017). This 2018/19 season, rape has confirmed its status of a particularly weather-sensitive crop: rapeseed yield dropped to 2.58 MT/ha, or below the five-year average of 2.74 MT/ha.

Rapeseed exports from Bulgaria have been falling for a second straight season with more stable domestic crushing that makes imports of this oilseed less necessary, reports UkrAgroConsult.

The overall estimates for fall planting in Europe look rather pessimistic. This situation has been seen for a second year in a row. The top growers of winter rapeseed – France and Germany – are expected to reduce its plantings due to inadequate soil moisture supply. A drop is seen in Bulgaria’s planted acreage, too.

According to UkrAgroConsult’s estimates, even if the optimistic scenario comes true and a record yield (some 3 MT/ha) is obtained, this will lead to no significant rise in rapeseed production, i.e. it is highly probable that the next season 2019/20 will keep following the trend of the previous two seasons.