Soyabean production in the European Union (EU) is expected to reach a record level in the 2024/25 marketing season due to an increased planted area, according to EU Commission (EC) data reported by Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP).
Expected to total just less than 3M tonnes, which would be a 6% increase compared to 2023, the EU’s soyabean harvest had more than tripled over the past 10 years, the 20 June report said.
Despite the forecast of an increase in production, yields were expected to decline slightly.
While Italy was expected to remain the EU’s leading producer, with production forecast at 1M tonnes, this would be 0.9% below the previous year’s volume.
France, the EU’s second largest supplier, was also expected to see production decline slightly – by 0.5% –to 384.000 tonnes.
The EC expected other member states’ soyabean supply to significantly exceed the previous year’s level this year.
Romania was forecast to harvest 371,000 tonnes, just under 24% more than in 2023.
Production in Croatia and Hungary was expected to reach 258,000 tonnes and 182,000 tonnes respectively, which would translate to increases of 26.5% and 2.8%.
Austria’s harvest was expected to increase by around 8.5% to 293,000 tonnes.
The EC also expected a 10.1% year-on-year rise in Germany’s soyabean harvest in 2024 to 142,000 tonnes.
According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the EU’s overall increase in soyabean was due to an expansion in planted area by 67,000ha to around 1M ha.
Meanwhile, yields were expected to remain just below the previous year’s level.
