The anniversary of the one year extension on Canadian canola seed’s restricted access to China is fast approaching.
The Canola Council of Canada announced a year ago that China had agreed to extend access for canola seed imports for another year under a certain set of restrictions designed to keep blackleg disease out of the country’s rapeseed crop.
The extension kept the door open to a country that had become Canada’s largest canola seed market, importing 2.8 million tonnes in 2008-09.
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Under the temporary agreement, Canadian exporters can ship canola to five selected Chinese crushers away from the country’s rapeseed growing areas.
The limited number of delivery options restricted Canada’s access to the Chinese market to 1.4 to 1.5 million tonnes of annual seed exports.
Canola Council of Canada president JoAnne Buth said in an e-mail that the measure will be in place for several months after the one-year anniversary of the June 15, 2010, announcement.
She said the agreement is for the 2010 crop, so it will be in place until the 2011 crop is ready for export.
According to one canola exporter, the industry held a conference call about the blackleg situation last week, but Buth said she could provide no update about an extension of the existing arrangements at this time.
Canadian exporters shipped 588,000 tonnes of canola to China through the first eight months of 2010-11, down from 1.5 million tonnes the same time last year.
However, thanks to increased exports to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, total exports to Asia are identical to last year’s pace at 3.3 million tonnes.
Exports to Pakistan are up 497,000 tonnes and sales to the U.A.E. have risen 258,000 tonnes.
Canola oil sales to China increased as seed sales have dropped, rising to 532,338 tonnes through the first seven months of 2010-11 compared to 225,082 in the same period in 2009-10.
