By Arvin Donley for World-Grain.com

MOSCOW, RUSSIA — Russia is likely to set new records in soybean and rapeseed production in 2019-20, according to a July 11 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA forecast soybean production at 4.3 million tonnes, buoyed by increased planted area and yields. These same factors have led the USDA to project rapeseed output at a record 2.27 million tonnes.

Sunflower seed production is pegged at 12.30 million tonnes by the USDA, just slightly below the record of the previous marketing year.

The USDA forecast overall oilseed production in Russia in 2019-20 at 18.8 million tonnes, which will be roughly the same amount produced in 2018-19.

Exports of oilseeds in 2019-20 will reach an all-time high of 1.7 million tonnes, 7.3% higher than 2018-19, according to USDA projections.

“The major drivers of this growth will be exports of rapeseeds and soybean to China and an active supply of rapeseeds to Belarus that started in 2018-19 after the opening of a new plant for processing soybeans and rapeseed in this country by the company Sodruzhestvo,” the USDA said.

Due to the larger crop, the USDA expects to see an increase in oilseeds processing with the production of meals growing by 5.7% and vegetable oils by 4.9% year on year.

Given the surplus volumes of vegetable oils in MY 2019-20, USDA expects new records in exports of all vegetable oils — up to a total of 4.2 million tonnes, or 11.1% above the 2018-19 total.