Dec. 31 Canadian Canola Stocks Up Sharply from Year Earlier

Canadian canola stockpiles as of Dec. 31 were up sharply from a year earlier amid last year’s record large crop. 

A Statistics Canada grain stocks report Friday pegged total nationwide canola stocks as of Dec. 31 at 15.623 million tonnes, up more than 18% from a year earlier and the largest Dec. 31 stocks level since 2019 at 16.212 million. The entire year-over-year increase in stocks was due to larger on-farm inventories, which increased 21.2% to 14.3 million tonnes – more than offsetting a 7.4% decline in commercial stocks to 1.3 million. 

Compared to trade expectations, canola stocks came in a bit lower than anticipated, with the average guess at 15.75 million tonnes. 

With the total canola supply for the 2025-26 marketing year estimated by Agriculture Canada at 23.501 million tonnes, the Dec. 31 stocks level infers Aug. 1- Dec. 31 canola use of 7.87 million. That’s down from usage of 9.37 million tonnes during the same period a year earlier. 

Canadian canola production in 2025 amounted to 21.804 million tonnes, an increase of more than 13% from 2024.