November 4, 2014
IGC forecasts lower rapeseed production in 2015
The International Grains Council (IGC) forecasts a significantly lower rapeseed output by the European Union and Ukraine in 2015.
The intergovernmental group said the European Union rapeseedharvest, the world''s biggest, is likely to fall next year to well below the record 23.8 million tonnes achieved in 2014.
The projected fall is due in part to a drop in sowings by about 4%, more than the 3% forecast by Strategie Grains, IGC said.
Blamed for the current contraction in planted areas, now placed at 6.5 million hectares, are the EU subsidy rules, which encourage growers to diversify crops, lower rapeseed prices and profitability, longer dry weather in major producing countries, and the EU ban on neonicotinoid insecticides.
The EU has banned insecticide sprays claiming they harmed bee populations. Following the ban, crops have been susceptible to unusually high levels of insect-related damage, notably in Germany and the United Kingdom.
The IGCalso reported a drop in rapeseed sowings in Ukraine on concerns over winterkill and lower prices.
Plantings of winter rapeseed, which usually accounts for some 95% of Ukraine''s output, have fallen some 9% year-on-year to 860,000 hectares- extending a decline which has now seen them halve over the past seven years.
"This is a continuation of the steady downward trend of recent seasons, and reflects a gradual switch to spring sown crops which are less prone to damage from adverse weather," the IGC said.