Ukraine may lose the EU rapeseed and corn market

There exists a risk that the European market will be lost for Ukrainian rapeseed and significantly limited for Ukrainian corn. Such a forecast was made by the Executive Director of the Grain and Oilseeds Committee of the European Business Association (EBA), Irina Dushnik, NV Business informs.

Ukraine may lose about 70-80% of rapeseed exports. She added that Ukrainian soybeans and corn are used in the EU for biofuel production. Today, the demand for these cultures is increasing, but the European Union is making tough demands.

Europe requires the identification of actual indicators of greenhouse gas emissions that are released during the production and circulation of raw materials from which biofuels are produced. For example, CO₂, N₂O, CH₄.

At the beginning of 2018, tougher restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels production entered into force in the EU countries. And the downward trend in the reduction of emissions will continue.

“In Ukraine, at the moment, there are no calculations on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production. It is, for example, about corn. Calculations for some crops exceed the acceptable EU indicators. For example, for rapeseed. The “default value” for greenhouse gas emissions for Ukrainian rapeseed is 756 kg CO₂/t. At the same time, for most regions of Australia, these data vary within 500 kg CO₂/t,” the expert noted.

According to Irina Dusnik, this situation limits significantly the export of these crops to the EU premium market and, therefore, the receipt of foreign currency earnings in Ukraine.

As reported earlier, in MY2018/19 due to high demand from the livestock industry, vegetable oils and the biofuels markets, the world will continue to increase oilseed production.