Crushing statistics of major oilseeds, Canada and United States, 2021
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Released: 2022-03-14
Canadian oilseed processors crushed 9 857 362 tonnes of canola in 2021, down 4.2% from 2020. The decline followed a record high of 10 290 286 tonnes in 2020. The amount of soybeans crushed decreased 6.2% to 1 648 918 tonnes in 2021 compared with 2020. Oil production totalled 4 218 110 tonnes for canola and 308 155 tonnes for soybeans, while meal production totalled 5 700 369 tonnes for canola and 1 282 829 tonnes for soybeans.
In the first half of 2021, the domestic canola crush continued its strong pace from 2020, mainly because of high supplies and strong international demand. However, drought conditions in the Prairie provinces throughout the 2021 growing season negatively impacted yields. This resulted in lower supply, as well as lower crop quality and lower oil content for canola. Combined with record low carry-over from the previous year, this resulted in canola crushing tailing off in the second half of 2021 due to lack of supply.
In September and October 2021, the amount of canola seed crushed remained high, as the canola crushed was lower quality. Therefore, a higher quantity is necessary to produce the same amount of oil compared with previous years, when higher-quality canola was being crushed. However, as supplies continued to fall, the amount of canola seed crushed in November and December was noticeably lower than that crushed in the same period in previous years.
A large portion of the canola grown in Canada is used by domestic crushers. In the 2020/2021 crop year (August 2020 to July 2021 for canola), the domestic crush of 10 424 753 tonnes represented 45.2% of total disposition, while exports of canola accounted for 45.9%. A higher share of total disposition went to domestic crush than in the previous crop year, when domestic crush represented 41.9% of total disposition.
In the United States, over the 2021 calendar year, oilseed processors crushed 58 206 109 tonnes of soybeans, down 3.1% from 2020, and 1 860 675 tonnes of canola, down 10.0%. Oil production totalled 11 433 726 tonnes for soybeans, and 762 478 tonnes for canola, while meal production totalled 42 812 704 tonnes for soybeans and 1 073 125 tonnes for canola.
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Statistics Canada is providing annual data on Crushing statistics of major oilseeds, Canada and United States. This series was prepared in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
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