Lang
Germany's rapeseed oil exports are heading lower in the 2025/26 marketing year, after the previous season delivered the second-highest export performance since the turn of the century. According to figures from the German Federal Statistical Office, supplemented by research from Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, export volumes in 2025/26 reached 1.11 million tonnes, down roughly 14.4% from the 1.30 million tonnes shipped in the prior crop year.
The European Union remains by far the most important destination for German rapeseed oil. Some 1.01 million tonnes, equivalent to 91% of total exports, were delivered to other EU member states. The Netherlands once again absorbed the largest share, taking in just under 568,900 tonnes, more than half of Germany's total rapeseed oil exports in 2025/26. However, that figure marks a 23% decline compared with the previous season.
Belgium ranked second among importers, purchasing 118,500 tonnes, a substantial 34% year-on-year increase. Other key destinations showed mixed performance: Poland climbed 38%, Denmark slipped 3%, and France fell 21%.
Outside the EU, Norway and the United Kingdom were the principal buyers. Norwegian imports totalled 29,900 tonnes, around 45% less than in the previous year.
The reported figures cover exports of rapeseed oil, field mustard oil and mustard oil, both crude and refined, intended for technical and energy-related applications as well as for food production.
The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) has underscored the strategic importance of Germany's oilseed industry, which has a processing capacity of approximately 10 million tonnes of rapeseed. The association noted that the utilisation rate of oil mills is becoming increasingly significant as biofuel mandates are raised across the European Union in 2026 and 2027. Demand for rapeseed is therefore growing steadily, helping to stabilise prices.
Currently, domestic production covers only about 40% of the raw material requirements of Germany's oil mills, leaving the sector heavily reliant on imports. UFOP stressed that the country's oil milling and biodiesel industries are key local anchors for the entire value chain, from rapeseed breeding, cultivation and trade through to the processing of a wide range of food, feed and fuel products.
Source: Biofuels International Magazine