Exports of oilmeals rise 16% to 1.22 mn tonne in December quarter

The country's oilmeals exports rose 16 per cent to 12.20 lakh tonne in the third quarter of the current fiscal compared to the year-ago period, industry body SEA said on Thursday.

Around 10.53 lakh tonne of oilmeals was exported during the October-December quarter of 2022-23.

According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the country exported 6.24 lakh tonne of soybean meal, 4.79 lakh tonne of rapeseed meal, 1.14 lakh tonne of castor seed meal and 2,642 lakh tonne of groundnut meal in third quarter of the current fiscal.

In December alone, total oilmeals exports were at 5.32 lakh tonne, up by 23 per cent from 4.33 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, it said.

SEA said the country's export of soyameal rose due to price competitiveness amid shortage of Argentine export supplies in recent months.

The major consumer of Indian soybean meal is South East Asia, where India has a logistic advantage and also can supply in small lots, it added.

The industry body also mentioned that the export of rapeseed meal had touched a new record of 22.96 lakh tonne during 2022-23 fiscal, ever highest since export started.

The trend of export of rapeseed meal continued in the current year as 18.24 lakh tonne was exported during April-December of this fiscal compared with 16.69 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

Currently, India is the most competitive supplier of rapeseed meal to South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and other far east countries, SEA said.

Total oilmeals rose 24 per cent to 34.96 lakh tonne during April-December of the current fiscal from 28.16 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, the SEA added.

South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Taiwan are the main export destinations for India for oilmeals.