April 14, 2024

Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season till the end of March, Ukraine exported 3.5 million tons of rapeseed and about 400,000 tons of rapeseed oil.

According to preliminary data of customs statistics, the export of rapeseed from Ukraine in March 2024 amounted to almost 157 thousand tons, which is 91 thousand tons less than in the previous month, but 92 thousand tons more than in March 2023.

Historically, rapeseed from Ukraine is exported in the first half of the season, so current export volumes are quite high compared to historical in this time of a typical year.

Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, Ukrainian rapeseed exports amounted to almost 3.5 million tons, compared to 3.4 million tons for the corresponding period of the previous season.

Exports of rapeseed oil in March were minimal, but speaking about the total exports since the beginning of the marketing year, it amounted to almost 400,000 tons, compared to only 84,000 tons in the 2022/23 season.

At the same time, the ratio of the total rape harvest according to official data and its export looks interesting.

According to official data, the rapeseed harvest in Ukraine in 2023 amounted to 4.1 million tons. The export of rapeseed in the current season has already reached the mark of 3.5 million tons, the export of rapeseed processed into oil and meal is another 900,000 tons, so the total value of exports (in the form of seeds and processing products) is about 4.4 million tons, which exceeds the total harvest.

There can be two main explanations for this fact - 1) the actual rape harvest in 2023 was significantly higher than the official data, and/or 2) Ukraine had relatively high rape carry-in stocks from the previous season (which does not seem very logical, given the low export figures at the end season 2022/23).