An increase in the export of rapeseed meal and soyabean meal helped India record a 60 per cent growth in the export of oilmeals during the first nine months of 2022-23.

According to the data available with Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India, the country exported 28.25 lakh tonnes (lt) of oilmeals durung April-December of 2022-23 against 17.67 lt in the corresponding period of 2021-22, recording a growth of 60 per cent.

Export of oilmeals was provisionally reported at 4.33 lt during December 2022 when compared to 1.70 lt in December 2021, an increase of 153.66 per cent.

BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said the export of rapeseed meal has set a new record of 16.71 lt during first nine months of 2022-23, and broke the earlier record of 12.48 lt in 2011-12. India had exported 7.13 lt of rapeseed meal during April-December of 2021-22.

Currently, India is the most competitive supplier of rapeseed meal to South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and other Far East countries at $255 a tonne (FOB India) while rapeseed meal (Hamburg ex-mill) is quoted at $405 a tonne, he said.

The better realisation from rapeseed (mustard) oil and export of rapeseed meal not only supported domestic price of mustard seed but also encouraged larger sowing area under mustard crop during current rabi season, he said. The area under mustard was reported at about 97 lakh hectares (lh) during the current rabi season when compared with 90 lh in the previous season.

Soyameal

With the fall in the price of local soyabean to the level of ₹5,650 a quintal, local soyabean meal price also fell to ₹42,800 a tonne from ₹53,000 a tonne in June 2022. This has made the export of soyabean meal attractive, he said.

India exported 4.47 lt of soyabean meal during April-December of 2022-23 against 2.62 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, recording a growth of 70.54 per cent.

With lower than expected soyabean crop and crushing in Argentina, soyabean meal export is expected to increase from the other origins. The supplies from the US, Brazil and India are likely to increase at better price, he said. On January 13, Brazil soyabean meal price (ex-Rotterdam) was quoted at $614 a tonne while Indian soyabean meal (ex-Kandla) was at $545 a tonne, he said.

South-East Asia is the major consumer of Indian soybean meal. India has a logistic advantage here and also can supply in small lots, he said.

Indian soyabean meal being non-GMO has an advantage, and being preferred by certain European countries and the US. The rupee depreciation is also pushing the overall export. This helped India to revive the export of soyabean meal in November and December. India shipped 2.85 lt of soyabean meal during November-December of 2022-23 against 86,211 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2021-22.

S Korea major importer

Mehta said South Korea has emerged as the major importer of oilmeals during the first nine months of 2022-23. India exported 7.15 lt of oilmeals to South Korea during April-December of 2022-23 (when compared to 4.65 lt in the corresponding period of 2021-22). This included 4.93 lt of rapeseed meal, 1.97 lt of castorseed meal, and 24,638 tonnes of soyabean meal.

This was followed by Vietnam. India exported 6.84 lt of oilmeals to Vietnam (4.22 lt). This included 2.93 lt of ricebran extraction, 1.99 lt of rapeseed meal, 1.86 lt of soyabean meal and 4,500 tonnes of groundnut meal.

During the first nine months of 2022-23, Thailand imported 5.09 lt of oilmeals (1.42 lt) from India. This included 5.03 lt of rapeseed meal, 2,205 tonnes of soyabean meal, 337 tonnes of groundnut meal and 500 tonnes of rice bran extraction.

Bangladesh imported 2.77 lt of oilmeals (2.77 lt) from India during April-December of 2022-23. This included 53,913 tonnes of ricebran extractions, 2.12 lt of rapeseed meal, and 11,516 tonnes of soyabean meal.

Taiwan imported 94,327 tonnes of oilmeals (74,685 tonnes) from India during April-December of 2022-23. This included 59,965 tonnes of castorseed meal, 25,479 tonnes of rapeseed meal, 6,463 tonnes of groundnut meal, and 2,420 tonnes of soyabean meal.

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