HAMBURG, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Persistent rain at harvest time is set to cause a late reduction in the European Union’s crop of rapeseed, its main oilseed for edible oil and biodiesel production, experts said on Friday.
“Harvest weather has been terrible with repeated rain in the four largest producers France, Germany, Britain and Poland, and we are likely to see crop sizes reduced at the last moment,” one German rapeseed trader said.
“The EU’s rapeseed import requirement may be larger than expected next season.”
France, which may be the EU’s largest rapeseed producer this year, is set for a crop sharp fall after adverse weather.
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France’s rapeseed harvest is coming to a close but has been held up in the north by repeated rain since late July.
French rapeseed has endured heavy rain, cold spells and limited sunshine during spring, analysts said.
“Yields in France are disappointing but not disastrous like in wheat,” said Renaud de Kerpoisson, president of consultancy ODA Groupe.
ODA estimates the French crop will fall to 4.4 million tonnes, down 17 percent from last year.
French analyst Strategie Grains this week cut its crop estimate to 4.7 million tonnes, down 400,000 tonnes from its previous outlook.
Rain is delaying the German harvest and means some rapeseed is suffering from fungal diseases and pest attacks. Germany’s farming association said. It forecast the rapeseed harvest will fall 500,000 tonnes on the year to around 4.5 million tonnes.
In Britain, rapeseed harvesting is about 40 percent complete with a smaller crop expected driven by declines in both yields and planted area.
“Yields are highly variable this year, but at this stage the average yield appears to be around 10 percent lower than the five-year average,” said analyst Susan Twining of crop consultants ADAS.
Analysts also expect UK rapeseed area will be down around 10 percent this season, hurt by weak margins and problems linked to curbs on the use of a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids. The EU restricted their use hoping to protect bees.
Traders said Britain is expected to harvest a crop of about two million tonnes, down from last year’s 2.54 million.
In Poland, rain is also disrupting harvesting and may cause crop losses, said Wojtek Sabaranski of analysts Sparks Polska.
Sparks Polska forecasts expects Poland’s crop to fall 30 percent on the year to 2.2 million tonnes.
But late rain means a fall to 2.0-2.1 million tonnes cannot be ruled out, Sabaranski said.
