 "Oilmeal exports halve in May on high price, low pick up")
India's oilmeal exports halved in May due to lower offtake from Iran and lower availability from seed crushing mills on negative parity.
Data compiled by the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) showed India's oilmeal exports at a mere 83,221 tonnes in May 2015, compared with 169,607 tonnes in the corresponding month last year. The shipment volume in May recorded a decline of 51 per cent.
"We have lost entire oilmeal markets due to three major factors. Iran, which emerged as the largest oilmeal importer from India in 2012, is now buying from other regions. India's other major buyers like Vietnam and Bangladesh have set up their own oilseed crushing units to generate meal on their own. Thirdly, India remained uncompetitive on the global map due to high cost of production on elevated seed prices," said B V Mehta, Executive Director, SEA.
Traders and consumers from Iran imported 63,115 tonnes of all types of oilmeals from India in May 2014. This has slumped to a negligible 9,050 tonnes of soybean meal only.
Similarly, Vietnam imported only 24,204 tonnes of oilmeal in May this year as against 43,235 tonnes in the same month last year. Thailand imported just 11,391 tonnes in May 2015 compared with 42,550 tonnes in the same month last year. Taiwan also imported 8116 tonnes, or less than half the quantity bought a year earlier (17,513 tonnes).
Both Vietnam and Bangladesh have started purchasing beans from India now instead of meal. Private crushers have set up seed crushing mills and are now importing oilseeds from global markets to these mills. So, they generate meals locally now.
Apart from that, India's oilmeals free on board (FOB) price currently stands at $550 a tonne compared with $400 a tonne from other markets."Oilmeals of Indian origins are costlier by $150 a tonne due to highseed prices. So we are losing out to competition. The way forward, therefore,is to raise oilseed production to keep oilmeal cost low," said Mehta.