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Production of canola probably will reach a record 18.75 million tons, more than half of which will be exported to big buyers like the U.S., China and Mexico, the government’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said in a May 24 report. Demand also is growing, with global imports of rapeseed set to jump 5.2 percent to a record 16.18 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, with Canada accounting for about 68 percent of total shipments.

Canola prices have held up better than competing oilseeds as supplies increased. Canola now fetches a premium to soybeans, and it has outperformed palm oil, which is down almost 20 percent in the past year.

Still, farmers have plenty of incentive to supply more as domestic demand grows, with Canadian processors poised to crush a record 9 million tons in the 12-month season through July, and a similar amount in the next year, according to the the nation’s agriculture ministry.

The global market for rapeseed, which includes canola, reached C$8.9 billion last year, a 61 percent increase from 2011, and is forecast to grow another 51 percent from 2016 to 2021, the most of any edible oil, including olive oil and sunflower oil, according to data from Euromonitor International. Since canola oil is not just for human consumption, part of that growth may go toward other uses such as animal feed, said Hope Lee, a senior analyst.

Rising demand for healthier cooking oils from North American consumers and a growing middle class in Asia has helped boost exports, said Bruce Jowett, vice president of market development for the Canola Council of Canada. That, in turn, has prompted farmers to continue to seed more acres and for processors to invest “significantly” in increasing the amount of oil and meal they can export, he said.