India's soyameal exports in April have fallen by 50 per cent to Rs 95.99 crore compared to the same month last year due to slow pace in crushing and lesser arrivals of the soyabean in the market.
"This time soybean crushing is poor because operating margins are under pressure. As a result, the arrivals are also less causing a drop in exports," Indore-based Soybean Processors Association of India's (SOPA) Co-ordinator Rajesh Agarwal said.
For the first seven months of the 2009-10 oil year (October-September), the country's soyameal shipments posted a 40 per cent drop to Rs 2,925.98 crore from Rs 4,824.56 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Agarwal said high prices of Indian soyameal was another reason for fall in exports. "This time the South American crop has been very good. Our prices are not as competitive as their soyameal because our bean is expensive," he said.
In terms of volume too, soyameal exports fell in April by 31.45 per cent to 57,507 tonnes compared to the same month last year.
For the the first seven months of the current oil year (October-September), exports dropped by 41.39 per cent to 1.56 million tonnes from 2.66 million tonnes in the same period last year.
India's soyameal exports in 2009-10 oil year is expected to decline by 22 per cent at 2.5 million tonnes against 3.2 million tonnes in 2008-09, Agarwal said.
