India's oilmeal exports drop 36% in Apr-Aug

This is due to lower crop of soybean

India’s oilmeal exports have seen a fall of 36 per cent from April to August, according to data released by Solvent Extractors’ Association of India. Exports fell to 864,929 tonnes, compared to 1.3 million tonnes during the same period last year, due to a lower crop of soybean available for crushing.

During August, oilmeal export was 133,404 tonnes compared to 317,161 tonnes last year, a fall of 58 per cent. Soybean production last year was estimated to be around eight million tonnes. This caused prices to escalate, caused soymeal prices, too.

Many of the refiners have cut their crushing capacity in the last few months due to lower availability of soybean which was available for crushing. This lead to total disparity for soybean meal in international market.

On the other hand, the share of rapeseed meal exports has increased to 513,785 tonnes during April to August compared to 358,196 tonnes last year.

Oilmeal exports to South Korea, the largest importer of Indian oilmeal during the first five month of the current fiscal was reported at 416,918 tonnes, the same as last year.

During the first five months of the fiscal, Iran imported 127,182 tonnes of oilmeal compared to 472,361 tonne last year. Iran used to be the highest importer of Indian oilmeal but now has significantly reduced its imports from India significantly, making South Korea the biggest importer of Indian oilmeal.

Thailand imported of 93,542 tonnes of oilmeal compared to 97,728 tonnes last year while Vietnam oilmeal imports stood at 65,630 tonnes compared to 63,266 tonnes last year.