EU crushing up in August on rapeseed, US soy harvest

EU and UK mills crushed more soybeans and rapeseed in August compared with the previous month and a year earlier, as inclement weather caused earlier harvests this year in Europe, increasing EU supplies. But total refined oil production levels were unchanged on the month.

Fewer sunflower seeds (SFS) were crushed in August than in July, as high SFS prices lowered margins for crushers.

• Total oilseed crush levels increased on the month by 7pc to 3.5mn t in August, led by greater volumes of crushed soybeans and rapeseed, which increased by 6pc and 13pc, respectively. The UK and EU imported 135,000t less oilseeds on the month in August as the European harvest began, resulting in about 1.35mn t of imports in total.
• Production of semi-refined oil — typically used in the biodiesel sector — increased by 7pc on the month. But fully-refined oil — typically for the food sector — fell by 4pc, leaving total refined oil production virtually unchanged on the month.
• Rapeseed crushing rose by 13pc on the month in August and by 5pc on the year, as Ukraine, the UK and the EU began harvesting their 2024-25 harvests 3-4 weeks earlier than usual, given the crop's earlier flowering and ripening with unfavourable weather conditions.
• Soybean crushing continued to increase in August. But the share of soybeans in total oilseed imports has fallen — from 78.5pc in July to 71pc in August. The EU and the UK imported 200,000 fewer tonnes of soybeans in August than in July — or about 960,500t of soybeans in total.
• SFS crushing fell by 14pc in August to 0.4mn t on high SFS prices and limited stocks in the EU and Ukraine, as new-crop SFS arrivals — for the 2024-25 marketing year — do not start before this month.
• Nevertheless, SFS crushing increased by 17pc across the first seven months of this year on the back of greater EU crushing capacity. The strongest seed crushing growth expected by the USDA is in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, and to a lesser extent in Germany and Italy.

By Madeleine Jenkins