December 8, 2009

Canada to ship more canola oil to China in 2010

China intends to import a total of 350,000 tonnes of Canadian canola oil in 2010, a 200,000-ton increase over 2009, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Saturday (December 5).

Ritz met with Bao Kexin, the CEO and president of Sinograin, the state-owned organization responsible for China's reserves of grains and edible oil, to discuss canola oil exports.

The additional canola oil-imports by Sinograin would mean increased sales of C$180 million (US$171.3 million), the Canola Council of Canada estimated.

JoAnne Buth, president of the Canola Council of Canada, was in China with the government delegation, which also included Prime Minister Stephen Harper and International Trade Minister Stockwell Day.

"While we welcome the news that Sinograin is committed to purchasing more canola oil, we remain deeply concerned about the continuing quarantine on our canola seed," Buth said. "We are pleased that the Government of Canada raised this concern at every level this past week. It is important that we continue to press China to take steps to resume their imports of seed."

As of Nov. 15, China has required a phytosanitary certificate for canola seed shipments certifying that the shipments are free from the crop-disease blackleg, effectively shutting Canadian canola out of the country.

Canada exported 2.87 million tonnes of canola seed to China in 2008-09, making the country Canada's largest market.

US$1 = C$1.05 (Dec 8)