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Rapeseed: lower output this season

August 7, 2017 at 9:56 AM , Starry Night Ltd.
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Exports lack momentum. Will the lower expected national output turn the trend in favor of local farmers?

Rapeseed: lower national production

SOFIA. Although in recent years, rapeseed has been favored by local farmers as the crop with the highest profit potential, thus allocating more arable land for its production, this season, because of adverse weather conditions during the Winter and early Spring, aggregate output is projected to reach approximately 450,000 mt. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, by the 27th of July 2017, farmers collected 432,847 mt of the crop, as by that time, the remaining to be fully harvested plots were mainly in the Southwest and central South regions of the country. For comparison, last year’s output reached 509,251 mt.

The majority of rapeseed is harvested throughout the North regions and the Southeast, as the regions of the Southwest and central South, where harvest ends last, contribute a small portion of the national output. A case in point, during season 2016-17, outputs from the Southwest and central South accounted to only 8.55%. Till the final figure of aggregate national output is estimated, huge upward swings in final output are out of the question.

Exports lack momentum

Because aggregate output will be by about 10% lower than that of last year, farmers and intermediary parties seem to withhold the crop from active market trade in order to get a higher price. This influences exports, and as a result, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, since the beginning of the marketing season till the 28th of July 2017, total exported quantities of rapeseed accounted to 73,000 mt. By the end of July, no exports were registered either via Varna seaport or Burgas seaport. However, according to local market intermediary parties this is a short-term trend, induced by the generally prolonged period of harvest and weaker than expected prices.

Rapeseed, Bulgaria

Crop

EUR/kg

Rapeseed

0.355

EXW Bulgaria

 

 

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