'Environmental protectionism'

Ukraine rapeseed exports may stumble over EU laws

— filed under: Black Sea News

Ukraine's rapeseed exports are set to decline for a second successive year of decline, and may fall "significantly" more if biofuels regulations in Europe prove as damaging as some critics fear.

Low temperatures, which have set back some winter-sown fields, have already left production on track for a small drop to 1.80m tonnes this years, with exports in 2010-11 expected to fall by 6%, a report by US officials said.


However, the drop in exports, for which Ukraine relies on the European Union buyers for some 80% of trade, could prove substantially more if a Brussels directive aimed at promoting renewable fuels puts some Ukrainian supplies out of bounds.

The country's crushers are expected to process only 150,000 tonnes of rapeseed in 2009-10, 8.0% of the nation's crop.

However, the country in January introduced biofuels subsidies which have helped attract many organisations into the sector, including Landkom, the London-listed farm operator, and Richard Spinks, the group's former chief executive, who has started a new venture, Alternativa.

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SkunK