March 10, 2014
India''s February oilmeal exports down over 53%
Due to tough competition from Vietnam and other countries, India''s oilmeal exports fell sharply by over 53% to 3.07 lakh tonnes in February this year, according to industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA).
It said in a statement that about 6.59 lakh tonnes of oilmeal, used as animal feed, was shipped in the same month last year.
"Export of oilmeal for February reported is down by 53%. India is losing Vietnam market due to stiff competition from other origins and increased availability from domestic crushing," SEA said.
Maximum shipments were soymeal 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.
Similarly, exports to Oman dropped 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 also declined sharply to 3,593 tonnes in February this year, from 11,854 tonnes in the same month of corresponding year.
Meanwhile, 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.