German oilseeds newsletter Oil World said it has raised it forecast of this summer's European Union rapeseed crop to 14.75 million tonnes against its previous estimate of 14.6 million tonnes.
But this was still down on last year's bumper crop of 15.29 million tonnes and EU rape oil imports are likely, it said. "Yields exceeded expectations in France and the UK," it said.
"Some damage was done recently by continuous rainfall which interrupted harvesting in several parts of Germany, Poland and other countries." "Although last year's exceptional yields could not be repeated, farmers in most countries achieved above average yields in the second consecutive year." It estimates Germany's crop will fall to 4.82 million tonnes this year from 5.28 million tonnes last season. France's crop this summer was estimated at 4.21 million tonnes, up from 4.0 million tonnes last year.