Ukraine: December 2017 was marked by a record minimum of the rape processing

In December last year, the production of rapeseed oil reached a record low for the last 4 marketing years and amounted to 0.108 thousand tons.

Such information was provided by UkrAgroConsult.

However, this situation did not affect the fact that this year’s indicators still exceed the figures of the previous year by 28.7% for the same period.

So, during the period from July to December of the current marketing year, 79.3 thousand tons of rapeseed oil were produced, whereas during the same period last year 61.6 thousand tons were produced.

Such an increase in the figures is due to the high level of processing at the beginning of the current marketing year.

The report also says that such processing dynamics will remain until the end of the season and thus the forecasted level of rapeseed processing is 80 thousand tons, whereas in the past MY 66.7 thousand tons of rapeseed oil were produced.

It should be recalled that during the whole 2017, 64.2 thousand tons of rapeseed oil was supplied to foreign markets from Ukraine, and the sum of export amounted to almost 50 million dollars.

December 2017 was marked by a record low for rapeseed processing at Ukrainian oil extraction plants over the past five years. In total, about 18 thousand tons of rapeseed were processed, which is 68% less than in November 2017, and 58% less than in December 2016.

The main reason for the reduction in rapeseed processing is the deterioration in the quality of the crop and low prices for oilseeds on world markets. At the same time, the export of rapeseed from Ukraine remains at a stable level, which indicates the demand for this product abroad.

Despite the record low rapeseed processing rates in December 2017, experts predict an increase in oilseed production in Ukraine this year. Rapeseed production is expected to grow by 7% and sunflower production by 4%.

Thus, Ukraine continues to be one of the leading producers of oilseeds in the world, despite some difficulties in the domestic market. An important factor for the development of the industry is the competitiveness and quality of products that allow Ukrainian exporters to successfully compete in world markets.