21, December, 2001(Oil World) - During the past two years the domesticsupply gap for oilseeds in the European Union continued to widen, asoilseed production declined sizably from 17.3 Mn T in 1999 to only 14.2 MnT this year. The increase in crushings and imports during the past twoyears was mainly on account of soybeans. For Oct/Sept 2001/02 we peg EUsoybean imports from third countries at a record 18.0 Mn T (up 0.4 Mn) andsoybean crushings at 17.2 Mn T (up 0.9 Mn). Also the EU import dependenceon oils and fats will continue to rise this season, as interior productionis insufficient to cover the growth in demand for food and non-foodpurposes. EU imports of 17 oils & fats from third countries are estimatedat 5.6 Mn T in Oct/Sept 2001/02, which is almost matching the oil importneeds of India, the world’s largest oil importer. Rising EU imports areseen particularly for palm oil and sun oil. EU soya meal disappearance isexpected to surge to a record 28.6 Mn T in Jan/Dec 2001 and to 28.8 Mn inOct/Sept 2001/02. For the 12 oilmeals we publish details on production,trade and disappearance.