May 8, 2014
India''s April soymeal exports down 60%
As high local prices made supplies uncompetitive against those of South American origin, India''s soymeal exports in April plunged 60% from a month ago to 89,883 tonnes, a trade body said.
Supplies from India, Asia''s top soymeal exporter, to traditional markets in South East Asia dropped as other origins were available at much cheaper rates. Overseas sales of soymeal would not cross the last month''s level in May.
India is currently offering soymeal at around US$754 per tonne as against US$503-US$512 for supplies from South America. The average Indian soymeal export price rose to US$666 per tonne, free on board, in April from US$606 a month ago, data from the Solvent Extractors'' Association of India (SEA) showed, reflecting tight local supplies of soy.
Soy is crushed to produce soyoil and soymeal, which is used as animal feed. Exports of soymeal have drastically reduced due to high price of soy, according to B.V. Mehta, executive director, SEA.
Due to crop-damaging rains during the harvest, India''s soy output is estimated to have dropped 4.4% to 10.23 million tonnes in 2013-14.
Iran and Sri Lanka were the top two buyers of Indian soymeal during the first month of the new fiscal year that began in April.
Last month, India''s oilmeal exports plunged 40.5% to 236,835 tonnes from the previous month. The country sold 125,872 tonnes of rapeseed meal, mostly to South East Asian nations, last month.
India''s oilmeal exports dropped 9.8% from a year ago to 4.3 million tonnes in the 2013-14 fiscal year. Soymeal sales make up nearly two-thirds of India''s annual oilmeal exports.