China’s December 2024 Imports Of Canadian Rapeseed Decline

China’s imports of rapeseed from Canada, which had been steadily increasing since June, plummeted in December following Beijing’s launch of an anti-dumping investigation into the oilseed.

Canada, the world’s largest rapeseed producer, sends more than half of its exports to China, the largest global importer of oilseeds.

This development came after Ottawa imposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, Mei Mei Chu reported for Reuters.

The investigation, announced in September, prompted fears of retaliatory anti-dumping duties, leading importers to scale back purchases from Canada. December shipments from Canada dropped 12% year-on-year to 588,181 metric tons (MT), marking the first decline in seven months and the smallest shipment volume since August.

Canada, the world’s largest rapeseed producer, sends more than half of its exports to China, the largest global importer of oilseeds.

While China’s total rapeseed imports rose to 6.39 million metric tons (MMT) in 2024 compared to 5.49 MMT in 2023, most of this — 6.13 million tons valued at $3.29 billion — came from Canada. However, the December decline signals growing uncertainty in the trade relationship between the two nations.