PARIS (Reuters) — The area sown with rapeseed for the 2014 harvest in the European Union will fall one percent from this year to 16.3 million acres, analyst Strategie Grains said.
Sunseed crops would also lose area, with Strategie Grains expecting a decrease to 10.9 million acres.
The total oilseed area in the 28-country EU would fall to 29.4 million acres, the French-based analyst said.
“We expect a slight decrease in oilseeds’ area … due to lower gross margins compared with last year, and to better soft wheat gross margins than rapeseed’s,” it said in a monthly oilseed report.
“However, good conditions for the establishment of winter rapeseed this fall should limit the decline in rapeseed area.”
Strategie Grains said its estimates were liable to be revised significantly depending on winter crop losses and weather and price conditions for spring sowing.
