June 9, 2014
Increased price of India''s soymeal drags down exports
India''s soymeal exports in May sank 91.5% on-year to the lowestlevel in 20 months, as higher soymeal prices prompted buyers to source from competitors inSouth America, Reuters quoted a trade body.
India is now offering soymeal at around US$702 per tonne, against US$512 to US$520 for supplies from South America. Limited supplies of soybeans for crushing in local markets mean that soymeal prices will stay high in June, hitting shipments, industry officials said.
The average Indian soymeal export price rose to US$710 per tonne, free on board, in May from US$666 a month ago, data from the SEA showed, reflecting tight local supplies of soybean.
Soymeal exports from India, Asia''s top exporter of oilmeal, fell sharply to 8,226 tonnes in May from 96,492 tonnes a year earlier, according to the Solvent Extractors'' Association of India (SEA).
India''s soybean output is estimated to have dropped 4.4% to 10.23 million tonnes in the 2013/14 year due to crops being damaged by rains during harvest.
Iran, Japan and Thailand are usually key buyers of Indian soymeal, but are not currently showing buying interest, said an exporter based in Indore in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
The plunge in soymeal exports nearly halved India''s total oilmeal exports to 153,761 tonnes in May, though rapeseed meal exports rose nearly 9% to 95,847 tonnes, on robust demand from South Korea and Vietnam.
Soymeal sales make up nearly two-thirds of India''s annual oilmeal exports. India''s oilmeal exports dropped 9.8% from a year ago to 4.3 million tonnes in the fiscal year that ended in March 2014.