Europe's rapeseed consumption will jump by one-half by 2015 as the region struggles to meet its rising demand for oilseeds at a time when access to traditional soybean sources snags.

Use of all major oilseeds will rise, with growth totalling 29% to 30.8m tonnes, to feed increasing consumption of vegetable oils and processed foods, and European Union production of biodiesel expected to grow by 8% a year.

However, rapeseed will lead the way, with consumption soaring to 12.5m tonnes from 8.3m tonnes in 2008, with sunflower use rising to 4.2m tonnes from 3.4m tonnes, a report by Rabobank said.

GM hurdle 

Soybean imports, while remaining popular in meal form as a livestock feed, will grow relatively slowly, hurt in part by limits that Europe's curbs on genetically modified crops place on where supplies can be sourced

Growing trade ties between China and Brazil, which is set to overtake America as the world's top exporter, will further "limit the sourcing options, as Brazil is the only country to still produce large volumes of non-GM crops", the note said.

The report comes as Chinese sovereign wealth CIC is finalising details for an agriculture-based investment in Singapore-based Noble Group, a major player in South American soybeans.

Opportunity knocks 

However, the EU's growing reliance on rapeseed will present only limited opportunities for the region's own growers, who are believed to have produced a record crop this year.

Regulations capping crop use for biofuels, currently responsible for about two-thirds of Europe's use of the crop, will limit farmers' rapeseed plantings.

Canada, the major producer of rapeseed-related canola, and Ukraine, whose rapeseed exports have rocketed over the last five years, look best placed to fill the gap.

"Canadian and Ukrainian exporters will capture the market growth of rapeseed and sunflower oil," Rabobank said.