A market analyst says Eastern Canadian canola processors could be importing canola from Ukraine because of the prairie drought.

Mike Jubinville with MarketsFarm sees a five to ten percent drop in prairie canola supply.

He expects canola exports will drop from 10 million tons last year to only 7.6 million this year due to drought.

With rising canola prices in Western Canada, he says some crushers may look to offshore markets like Ukraine.

Jubinville says regular canola customers like the European Union, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates may have to look elsewhere for canola.

He says prices are expected to remain very volatile due to hot dry weather.

Jubinville says drought has caused irreversible yield loss approaching several million tons of crop.