In the 2025/26 season, Ukraine significantly increased domestic rapeseed processing—to 43% of the harvest, compared to 16% a year earlier, according to “Agribusiness Today.”
Of the approximately 3.3 million metric tons of rapeseed available, Ukrainian companies processed about 1.4 million metric tons, while about 1.9 million metric tons were exported.
The shift in market structure is already affecting shipments to the European Union. Ukraine is exporting fewer rapeseed seeds while simultaneously increasing shipments of products with higher added value.
During the first eight weeks of the new season, Ukrainian rapeseed oil exports to the EU increased approximately fivefold—to 24,000 metric tons. According to the publication’s estimates, processing about 60,000 metric tons of seeds was required to produce this amount of oil.
During this period, Ukraine accounted for about 56% of rapeseed oil imports into the European Union.
Thus, the Ukrainian rapeseed sector is gradually shifting its business model: instead of primarily exporting raw materials, an increasing portion of the harvest is being processed domestically into oil and meal.
This allows most of the value added to remain in Ukraine while reducing processors’ dependence on imported raw materials and the need to utilize other oilseed crops at processing facilities.
