Castor oil exports to top 200,000t

The total exports of castor oil in the 2004-2005 season could cross 200,000 tonne, trade sources said.

Of this, roughly 25,000 tonne is expected to be through containers, while bulk exports account for the rest.

According to Shvetal Vakil, chairman of the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), castorseed and oil council, container exports have gone up in the last few years from 10,000 tonne to the current level.

Exports stood at 161,619 tonne (excluding container exports) in 2003-2004, and 163,862 tonne in 2002-2003.

Exports started to fall after 2001 but will rise in the current yearowing to increase in the castorseed crop size.

Crop size registered a 12 per cent growth over the previous year, at 8.53 lakh tonne, according to a recent survey by AC Nielson and ORG-MARG.

The crop size rose because of increase in area under the crop, which is generally dependent on weather conditions.

The total area under castor seed is reported to have gone up by over 22 per cent, from last year at 8.21 lakh tonne.

The average yield for 2004-2005 has however declined to 1039 kilogram per hectare compared with 1126 kg per hectare last year.

India is the largest producer of the oilseed, accounting for over 70 per cent of the global crop.

Brazil and China produce the rest. India is also the largest exporter of castor oil and its derivative products to countries including USA, China, Thailand and Brazil.

It accounts for over 80 per cent of the world's trade in these products.