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Rapeseed: Planted acreages will affect export potential

December 7, 2017 at 3:17 PM , Starry Night Ltd.
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SOFIA. Exports lag on a yearly basis. Lower planted acreages for next year.

BULGARIA. Mainly exported to the world, rapeseed has turned out to be quite a profitable investment for local farmers. Its huge foreign demand, the majority going to EU countries, have succeeded in supporting relatively high prices throughout the marketing year. Even though competition within the Black sea region, for instance from Ukraine and Romania, have an effect on local market sentiments, national output is relatively small to suffer major setbacks in the long-term.

Rapeseed: lower planted acreages will affect export potential

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, by the end of last month, estimates of planted acreages with rapeseed for the next harvest reached 170,884 ha, which on a year-to-year basis lags behind by 6.7%. For the last few years, rapeseed has become the only locally grown crop with the highest turnover export ratio by the end of a calendar year. Such an estimated decrease in planted acreages hits some local players are a surprise since the majority of the grain is usually swiftly exported abroad after the completion of harvest. Even though favorable weather conditions could increase the average yield, it is the acreage expansion that adds substantially to the formation of an aggregate output. Such a reduction of cultivated acreages will definitely affect the export potential of the country, ceteris paribus.

       Harvest 2017-18

(01.07.2017 - 01.12.2017)

           units in MT

Beginning availability

25,000

Aggregate output

458,110

Imports

27,655

Domestic consumption

35,200

   oil & biodiesel production

35,200

Exports to the world

391,561

   to EU markets

365,265

   to rest of the world

26,296

Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture

A case in point, by the end of November 2016, the country shipped abroad by 99,210 mt more than it did by the end of November 2017. Furthermore, via Varna seaport, by the 3rd of December 2017, shipped volumes reached only 133,597 mt, which lag behind by 38.3% from those of last year, according to local authorities. This season, the country realized 458,110 mt of the grain, which on an annual basis, is by 10.04% less than what farmers collected during harvest 2016-17.

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