China: Canola Output Falls Short

Matt Hopkins Posted by Matt Hopkins|23 June 2010

CHICAGO — Commodity anaylysts say that rapeseed output in China could be as much as 15% lower than previous US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates, according to Bloomberg. A report by the Linn Group noted that China’s output could fall 1.5 million metric tons (mt) to 2 million tons short of the 13 million mt forecast by USDA on June 10. China is the world’s largest consumer of canola, or rapeseed.

Canada — the world’s largest canola exporter at 60% of all global shipments — could also lose as much as 2 million mt from the USDA June 10 forecast of 12 million mt, due to a rainier than usual growing season. The reduced output, along with greater demand from China and Japan, could drop rapeseed stockpiles to its lowest levels since 2007/08. The USDA forecast estimated exports to drop 1.9% to 10.7 million mt.
 

Advertisement

If demand continues to outpace supply, it could open the market for soybean oil as a canola replacement.

Hide picture