Rapeseed: A strong export season left behind
March 2, 2018 at 11:27 AM ,
Starry Night Ltd.
BULGARIA. Even though the Winter, just before the recent snowfall, was characterized over long periods of time by climate traits similar to those of early Spring, crops’ conditions throughout the country were surprisingly in much better state than might have been expected. The prolonged warmer than usual winter season though drew a red flag for local farmers that rodents and pests wintered the season quite well. In addition, the stock of moisture was ample and this created conditions for the development of fungal diseases. Anyhow, the recent heavy snow, reaching from 15 cm to 50 cm in different agricultural regions, throughout the country will not allow the forecasted lower temperatures to damage crops. Temperatures during the month of March are forecasted to fluctuate between high and low.
Rapeseed: strong international demand has already depleted reserves
Exactly because the country is a relatively small producer of rapeseed, indeed a dwarf if compared to behemoths such as Ukraine and its output potential, the country has not had difficulties to export its output; but instead, it has briskly shipped abroad the greater share of its national output on a yearly basis. Just a few months after harvest, and intermediary market players have fulfilled their international contracts while depleting remaining stocks. Moreover, the quality of the crop has never been an issue – during last harvest, some farmers within the Northeast region of the country, the so-called Granary of Bulgaria, realized rapeseed harvest of oil content as high as 44.8%. Hailstorms during harvest 2017-18, reduced the yield per fields in some regions, mainly in the central North and Northwest, but generally speaking, rapeseed is the locally grown crop, among all the rest, that enjoys the highest relative export rate. By the end of last week, total exports reached a share of 92% of aggregate output.
|
Harvest 2017-18 (01.07.2017 – 23.02.2018) units in MT |
|
|
Beginning availability |
25,000 |
|
Aggregate output |
458,110 |
|
Imports |
32,655 |
|
Domestic consumption |
48,800 |
|
oil & biodiesel production |
48,800 |
|
Exports to the world |
421,861 |
|
to EU markets |
388,365 |
|
to rest of the world |
33,496 |
Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture
Yet, in the short-term, the country seems set to remain a small regional producer of rapeseed, and as a consequence an exporter. Farmers planted less acreages for the upcoming season and, ceteris paribus, the expected output will have to be less.
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