Rapeseed: Overview
Cooking oil, biodiesel and cattle feed from one seed
What this tab covers What the commodity is used for, why, in what volumes and with what alternatives, and its chain from mine or field to end user. Also the latest price moves, top recent news, three things to know, and buttons into each tab.Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edible oil: cooking oil (canola oil, kachi ghani mustard oil), salad oil, margarine, frying | 70.4% | 25.3 Mt of oil in 2025/26; China 9.7 Mt, India 4.0 Mt, EU 3.25 Mt, US 2.15 Mtbasis | Canola oil is low in saturated fat and has a neutral taste and good frying stability, so it is the default cooking oil in Canada, Japan, Australia and much of Europe. In north and east India, pungent cold-pressed mustard oil is a traditional cooking medium with a strong price premium, and it is India's largest domestic oil. USDA PSD, October 2026 | Soybean oil Sunflower oil Palm olein Groundnut oil (India) |
| Biodiesel and renewable diesel (HVO) | 28.5% | 10.2 Mt of oil in 2025/26; EU 7.25 Mt, US 1.68 Mt, Canada 1.10 Mtbasis | Rapeseed methyl ester has a low cloud point, so it performs in cold northern European winters better than palm or soy biodiesel. EU blending mandates under the Renewable Energy Directive made it the bloc's main biodiesel feedstock, and US renewable diesel plants now import Canadian canola oil. USDA PSD, October 2026 | Used cooking oil and tallow Soybean oil Palm oil (restricted in the EU) Fossil diesel |
| Rapeseed meal for animal feed | n/a | 52.4 Mt of meal produced in 2025/26 from 90.1 Mt of seed crushed (58% of seed weight); India 6.40 Mt, of which 1.5 Mt exportedbasis | After oil is pressed out, the remaining meal has about a third protein and is a cheaper substitute for soybean meal in dairy and pig rations. Canola varieties were bred for low glucosinolates so meal can be fed in larger amounts. Meal is a co-product, so its output follows oil demand. USDA PSD, October 2026 | Soybean meal Sunflower meal Distillers grains (DDGS) |
| Whole seed for condiments, pickles and spice (India, Bangladesh, Europe) | n/a | India food use of whole seed 650 kt in 2025/26basis | Brown and yellow mustard seeds give the pungent flavour in Indian tempering, pickles and Bengali cooking, and in prepared mustard in Europe and North America. These are specific Brassica juncea and Sinapis types, not canola. USDA PSD, October 2026 | Other spices; no close substitute for flavour |
| Industrial oils: high-erucic rapeseed for lubricants, plastics additives and oleochemicals | n/a | n/a basis | High-erucic varieties give erucic acid and its derivative erucamide, used as slip agents in plastic films and in lubricants that must stay stable at high temperature. They are grown under identity-preserved contracts and kept separate from food canola, which is bred to be low in erucic acid. Qualitative | Petroleum lubricants Other vegetable oils Synthetic esters |
From field to user
- Sowing Spring canola in Canada, Australia's winter crop, winter rapeseed in the EU and China, and rabi mustard in India (October-November sowing).
- Harvest World output 96.0 Mt in 2025/26 (USDA PSD); Canada 22.2 Mt, EU 20.7 Mt, China 16.0 Mt, India 12.0 Mt.
- Country handling and export Canadian canola moves by rail to Vancouver for China and Japan; Australia ships from Western Australia and NSW. World seed exports were 19.4 Mt in 2025/26.
- Crushing Seed is cleaned, flaked, cooked and pressed, then solvent-extracted. India's crush was 10.75 Mt in 2025/26 (USDA), mostly in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
- Refining Crude canola oil is degummed, bleached and deodorised; Indian kachi ghani oil is filtered but not refined, to keep its pungency.
- Meal marketing Meal goes to feed mills; India exported 1.5 Mt of rapeseed meal in 2025/26 (USDA).
- End users Households and food processors, biodiesel and renewable diesel plants, dairy and pig farmers.
Price movement snapshot 2026-10-25
Rapeseed oil (World Bank monthly) 1,440 $/mt Month 2026-09 1 week no daily price 6 months +10.4% World production 87.8 m tonnes, 2024 Largest producer Canada 21.9% of worldThree things to know
- World rapeseed output rose from 24.4 Mt in 1990 to 87.9 Mt in 2024 (FAOSTAT).
- In 2018 Zhengzhou's rapeseed meal futures traded 104 million contracts of 10 tons each (Radetzki & Warell).
- Canada, China and India together grew 56.2% of world rapeseed in 2024 (FAOSTAT).
Top recent news snapshot 2026-10-25, last 30 days
- Bayer breaks ground on canola innovation centerWorld Grain · 2026-10-20
- EXCLUSIVE: China snaps up Australian canola as improved ties, lower tariffs fuel demandReuters · 2026-10-22
- Drought hampering EU oilseeds productionWorld Grain · 2026-10-20
- Price certainty is powerful perk for winter canolaFarm Progress · 2026-10-15