New EU27 oilseeds estimates for the 2012/3 and 2013/4 marketing years released by Copa-Cogeca on Friday show EU-27 oilseeds production is expected to recover this season, rising by 8.5% on last years levels. But the EU will still remain the biggest importer of rapeseed.

The move came after Copa-Cogeca oilseeds working party assessed the market situation. Chairing the meeting, Max Schulman from Finland said "The figures show that total EU-27oilseed  production reached 27.2 mt in 2012/3 and  it is predicted to increase by 8.5% to 29.576 mt in the 2013/14 marketing year. EU-27 rapeseed production is forecast to climb by 7.6% from 19.56 mt to 21 mt. But the figures have to be treated with caution, due to the variable weather conditions. Some delegates at the meeting complained of poor weather conditions and excessive rainfall during the planting season which had hit their crops badly in terms of production and quality. With the current low temperatures, frost kill could also have a serious impact on crops in some countries in northern Europe. In southern Europe, the excessive rainfall is delaying the planting season for sunflowers. This could affect potential yields for the 2013 harvest".

In addition, after 2 consecutive years of winter frost kill , Copa-Cogeca complained that the availability of seed for spring oilseed varieties is becoming increasingly tight and called for more seed availability.  Copa-Cogeca also expressed serious concerns about any restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments warning current weather variability demonstrates how important it is to protect crops against insects. Any restrictions are likely to have a severe impact on oilseeds production in the EU, making the EU more dependent on imports which would be disastrous given the tight world market situation for vegetable proteins. It would also hit the EU livestock sector badly which is heavily dependent on it for feed.