June 27, 2024

EU set for record soybean harvest in 2024

The European Union is poised to achieve its largest soybean harvest on record, with the EU-27 soy supply expected to increase further in the 2024/2025 marketing season, Biofuels International reported.

The primary driver for the anticipated larger harvest volume is the increase in the area sown, although yields are projected to decline slightly. Over the past decade, soybean output within the EU has more than tripled. The EU Commission expects this year's soybean harvest to reach just under 3 million tonnes, representing a 6% increase from 2023. This marks the largest soybean harvest ever recorded in the EU.

Italy remains the largest EU producer, with a forecast of 1 million tonnes, although this is 0.9% less than the previous year's volume. France, the second-largest EU supplier, is also expected to see a slight decline of 0.5%, resulting in a forecast of 384,000 tonnes.

In contrast, other member states are expected to significantly exceed last year's levels. Romania is forecast to harvest 371,000 tonnes, nearly 24% more than in 2023. Croatia and Hungary are projected to produce 258,000 tonnes and 182,000 tonnes respectively, representing increases of 26.5% and 2.8%.

Austria is likely to harvest 293,000 tonnes, an increase of approximately 8.5%. Germany's soybean harvest is expected to rise by 10.1% to 142,000 tonnes in 2023.

Investigations by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft indicate that the overall increase in soy supply in the EU-27 is due to an expansion in soy area by 67,000 hectares, bringing the total to around 1 million hectares. This would be the second-largest soybean area in the EU-27. According to the Commission's latest estimates, yields are expected to remain just below the previous year's level.

-      Biofuels International