Rapeseed export

It is also possible to distinguish between oils from seeds, such as soybean and rapeseed, and those coming from the fleshy part of a fruit such as pahn and olive. An important point here is that for oilseeds, exports and imports are as seeds as well... 

More than 60 years ago, the average world production of flaxseed was about 3.4 million metric tons (MMT), which was more than sunflower, 2.5 MMT, and slightly lower than rapeseed, 3.8 MMT. In the same period, soybean was produced at a level of 12.6 MMT (4). In those years, flaxseed was the third-most produced oilseed in the world by volume. Since then, world production of flaxseed has remained between 2 and 3 MMT, and the production of other oilseeds has increased considerably (4). In 2000-2001, world production of flaxseed was 2.34 MMT, with Canada being the largest producer and exporter of this oilseed (See graph in Canola chapter). 

Palm oil exporters had hoped that China would replace lagging Indian sales by raising its import quota. China officially entered the WTO on December 11, 2001. China s accession agreement stipulated that its 2002 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on soybean oil increase to 2.518 million tons and the within-quota tariff fall from 13 percent to 9 percent. Tariffs on soybeans and soybean meal were bound at their previous rates. But ample domestic production of soybean and rapeseed oils continued to limit China s need for vegetable oil imports. 

Table 1.10 Major countries/regions involved in the production, disappearance, export and imports (million tonnes) of rapeseed oil in 2000/01...

Canada and the United States produce between 7 and 10 million metric tons of canola seed per year. Annual Canadian exports total 3-4 million metric tons of the seed, 700,000 metric tons of canola oil, and 1 million metric tons of canola meal. The United States is the net consumer of canola oil. The major customers of canola seed are Japan, Mexico, China, and Pakistan, while the bulk of canola oil and meal goes to the United States, with smaller amounts shipped to Taiwan, Mexico, China, and Europe. The world production of rapeseed oil in 2002-2003 was about 14 million metric tons. ... 

An export refund may be paid on exports of olive oil and rapeseed oil to cover the difference between the world and Community market prices. 

In the modern 00-rape the > C 20 fatty acids have been reduced to trace fractions in favour of oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids, resulting in a fatty acids spectrum similar to olive oil. Characteristics of 00-rape are the most appropriate to fulfil the European biodiesel standards. As a result, the EU-27 are now the by far largest rapeseed oil consumers, and the astounding growth in European demand has been driven almost exclusively by the expansion of the biofuels sector over recent years. Fifty percent of European rapeseed production in 2005 has been turned into biodiesel, 37% has been used for human consumption, 7% for oleochemical products and lubricants 6% has been exported. In 2007 the rape oil demand for biofuels has accounted for 60% of rape oil consumption. Rape-based biofuels include biodiesel and direct use as refined oil. 

It has a long history of human use in the Orient, dating back to 1000 b.c. Until 1938, China was the world s principal producer supplying 2.5 million tonnes of the world s approximately 4 million tonnes output of rapeseed and mustard (Editorial, 1981). Since 1945, production and use has greatly increased in the Western World, especially in Canada and Europe. In Canada for example, the value of the crop has grown from zero in the early 1940s to the billion dollar level in 1981. Canadian rapeseed is now not only an important source of food and feed but is also a major export crop, second only to wheat. 

In Canada and Europe the percentage of oil yield from rapeseed is 41-42% based on an 8.5% moisture content of the seed, which is much greater than the 33-35% oil content reported for rapeseed and mustard from India and China. These large differences are attributable partly to varietal differences, but probably more importantly to relatively inefficient oil extraction procedures generally used in that part of the world which leaves about 12% of the oil with the meal. In the Asian countries of India, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, oil extracted from the seed is used domestically for human consumption and very little is exported. In these countries and in japan, rapeseed oil has traditionally been preferred as a cooking oil. 

This section covers the production, imports, and exports of rapeseed, rapeseed oil, and rapeseed meal by country. As is implied in Tables VII to XI, rapeseed can be transported as the intact seed for processing at the destination, or it can be processed at the place of origin and shipped as oil or meal. In the discussion to follow, the major rapeseed producing countries are discussed separately. 

Canada is the world s largest producer and exporter of rapeseed, a position achieved largely within the last decade. Except for a small area in British Columbia, all commercial production is in the three Prairie Provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, where it is well adapted to the northern climate, north of the 49° latitude (Table XII). Varieties grown are of the summer rape type no winter rape varieties suited to the Canadian climate are commercially available. 

From the data presented in Table XIV, which are averages for the 5 year period from 1977 to 1981, some facts can be derived as to the production and trade of rapeseed. The Eastern European countries are major producers of rapeseed and rapeseed oil but export relatively little (<10%). On the other hand, Sweden and Denmark also produce large amounts of rapeseed, but half of the rapeseed and 60% of the oil is exported. The third group of countries which includes France, West Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, and Finland, characteristically has both a high production and consumption of rapeseed oil. From the rapeseed and rapeseed oil export-import figures, it is clear that considerable trade occurs as well. 

In the past the European Common Market countries have imported and crushed oilseeds, mainly soybean, in order to produce large quantities of high protein meals for animal production. In recent years these countries have become partly self-sufficient in oil and meal due largely to their rape-seed production. France and West Germany are the principal exporters of rapeseed oil (Table XIV). 

Interest in producing canola has been increasing in areas suitable for its production, i.e., in Alaska (Wooding et al., 1978) and in some of the Midwestern States. In Alaska, some canola is being grown in commercial quantities on recently developed land. In the Midwest, the estimated area in 1979 was 40,000 hectares (equivalent to about 36,000 tonnes of rapeseed). Canola was produced on "set aside" acreage and the seed was exported to Canada and japan (Clancy, 1979). Present information indicates that canola is not being crushed in the United States. 

Canada, the world s largest producer and exporter of rapeseed, has achieved almost a complete changeover to the low erucic, low glucosino-late (canola) type. 

Even though Canada is canola s best customer consuming between 182,000-183,000 tonnes of canola oil in 1980, Canada cannot possibly consume all the domestic production of oil. In 1980, 173,000 tonnes were exported, India being the largest customer taking two-thirds of the total. See Table III for Canadian exports of rapeseed oil in the past 3 years. 

In recent years the emphasis has been on sales of processed rapeseed products and some countries, including Japan, have purchased these "value added" products. Canada now is the world s largest exporter of rapeseed and has a domestic crushing capacity of around 1.5 million tonnes per year. 

In the space of 30 years since the crop was first produced on the Canadian Prairies, Canada achieved the distinction of becoming both the world s largest producer and exporter of rapeseed. For the first 20 years, rapeseed held a very uncertain place in the field crop plans of western producers. Producers pursued an in-and-out pattern of production, but since 1965 this new oilseed crop of the prairie regions has secured a permanent place in Canadian agriculture. 

This association encompassing in its membership the entire spectrum of parties interested in any way in rapeseed including researchers, growers, handlers, exporters, marketers, crushers, refiners, and feed manufacturers has done a great deal to advance and consolidate the rapeseed industry in Canada. 

Surveys carried out by the Canadian Grain Commission on the erucic acid content of Canadian rapeseed are summarized in Fig. 1. By 1974, the average level of erucic acid in the New Crop Survey had decreased to below 5%. Because of carryover of stocks from previous years, it took until 1976 for the average level of erucic acid in exported seed (carlot and cargo surveys) to fall below 5%. 

Relative Frequency Distributions of Erucic Acid in Western Canadian Rapeseed Grown and Exported from Western Canada 1977-1980... 

The production of HEAR has been controlled by the Canadian Crushing Industry through contracts to meet expected demands for oil. Up to the present time only one company has been involved in this market and there has been no evidence of high erucic acid seed appearing in the edible oil export market. The Canadian Crushing Industry will continue to control this market as it is in their own best interests for the erucic acid content of Canadian rapeseed to remain low. 

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