The Lipid Library

OILS AND FATS IN THE MARKET PLACE

MAJOR PRODUCING AND CONSUMING COUNTRIES
EU-27

Enlargement of the EU in recent years has brought some changes, but the biggest change results from the growing production and use of biodiesel produced mainly from rapeseed oil. The following points are worth noting:

• EU-27 is heavily dependent for its supply of oils and fats on imported seeds and imported oils. In 2006/07 home-grown and imported seeds represented 58 and 42% of the total, respectively; for oils and fats, these figures were 63% and 37%, and it has to be remembered that around 40% of the home-produced oil came from imported seed.

• In contrast to large producer countries Europe makes use of a wider range of oils. In addition to the four major seed oils detailed in the Table, there is a significant consumption of olive oil, of three animal fats (tallow, lard, and butter), and of lesser amounts of the lauric oils.

Table 1. Seed grown and oil imported and consumed (million tonnes) in EU-27 during 2006/07 (USDA figures March 2008).
	Seed	Oil	-----   Consumption   -----
	Grown	Imported	Food	Industrial	Total
Palm		3.80	2.72	0.70	3.69
Rape	18.31	0.65	3.02	4.97	7.99
Soya	0.84	0.92	1.61	1.64	3.38
Sunflower	4.53	1.10	2.86	0.11	2.98
Other	0.51	1.66	3.25	0.43	3.70
Total	24.19	8.13	13.46	7.86	21.75
“Other” will be mainly palmkernel and coconut, imported as palmkernel or copra or as oils, and olive oil grown mainly in the Mediterranean countries of Spain, Italy, and Greece 9 (see Olive oil). Imported seed (mainly soybean) was 17.2 million tonnes.

• Though not apparent in these figures I have shown elsewhere that there is a marked variation between individual European countries. Some examples for 2005/06 are cited:

• Rapeseed oil represented 25% of European consumption but ranged from 45% in Germany to 2% in Spain.

• Palm oil represented 18% of European consumption but ranged from 36% in UK to 9% in Spain.

• Olive oil represented 8% of European consumption but ranged from around 25% in Spain and Italy to less than 1% in Germany.

• Butter represented 7% of European consumption but ranged from 17% in France to 1% in Spain.

• In 2006/07 the division between food and industrial use in Europe was 62 and 36%, respectively. For individual oils industrial use was: rapeseed oil (62%), soybean oil (49%), palm oil (19%), and sunflower oil (4%) showing clearly the impact of biodiesel production.

Updated: 2/5/2008 Credits/disclaimer	Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland