Harvesting canola in southern NSW in November. Photo: Barry Haskins

AUSTRALIA exported 883,243 tonnes of canola in February, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figure is up 55 percent from the 569,938t shipped in January, and 68pc above the 524,845t shipped in February 2025.

Belgium on 190, 062t was the major market for canola shipped in February 2026, followed by The Netherlands on 144,696t, and Germany on 123,640t.

In fourth place was China on 123,550t, more than double its January figure, to indicate China’s consolidation as a market for Australian canola.

The United Arab Emirates is a regular mid-tier buyer, and is not expected to appear in the March figures due to conflict between Iranian and Israeli-US forces, which effectively closed the Persian Gulf to shipping for all of last month.

In its latest canola supply-and-demand report, Lachstock Consulting said the current marketing year which ends in September remains “a story of strong execution”, with export pace, particularly into Europe, running well ahead of average.

This has been supported by volume from a record Western Australian crop, and demand from China.

“Globally, the market remains well supplied in the short term, with comfortable production across Canada, Europe and the Black Sea and subdued Chinese demand, leaving prices largely driven by macro factors such as energy and biofuels,” the report said.

“While medium-term demand from biofuel policy provides underlying support, the lack of immediate physical demand leaves the market vulnerable to sideways trade or downside in the near term.”

Table 1: Australian canola exports for December 2025 and January and February 2026. Source: ABS