Oilmeal exports fell sharply by over 53 per cent to 3.07 lakh tonnes in February this year due to tough competition from Vietnam and other countries, according to industry body SEA.
About 6.59 lakh tonnes of oilmeal, used as animal feed, was shipped in the same month last year, it said in a statement.
"Export of oilmeal for February reported is down by 53 per cent. ...India is losing Vietnam market due to stiff competition from other origins and increased availability from domestic crushing," Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said.
Maximum shipments were soyabean meal at 1.83 lakh tonnes, followed by rapeseed meal at 82,294 tonnes, castorseed meal at 39,816 tonnes and rice bran extraction at 1,500 tonnes in February this year, it said.
According to SEA data, oilmeal exports to Vietnam fell sharply to 18,318 tonnes in February this year from 1.18 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.
Similary, the shipments to Oman declined to 64,487 tonnes from 1.89 lakh tonnes, while exports to Japan fell to 2,407 tonnes from 92,307 tonnes in the review period.
Oilmeal exports to Thailand too declined sharply to 3,593 tonnes in February this year, from 11,854 tonnes in the same month correponding year.
However, exports to South Korea improved to 1.27 lakh tonnes from 78,380 tonnes, while shipments to Kuwait rose to 15,250 tonnes from 7,297 tonnes in the same period.
