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Export of oilmeals fell by 28 per cent in the first nine months of the financial year 2021-22 mainly led by a sharp 70 per cent decline in shipments of soyameal.

According to Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India, the overall export of oilmeals stood at 17.66 lakh tonnes (lt) during April-December of 2021-22 against 24.67 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, down by 28 per cent. Export of soyameal declined to 2.62 lt during the first nine months of 2021-22 as against 8.88 lt in April-December of 2020-21, down by 70.5 per cent.

BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said soyabean crushing margins in India are currently squeezed by pressure on meal prices and relatively high price expectations of farmers for soyabean. The price is currently quoted over ₹6,300 a quintal.

He said currently India is outpriced for soyameal export as ex-Kandla quoted at $750 a tonne against $535 of Brazil origin and $525 of Argentina. India is unlikely to be competitive for export in the next two to three months due to the high price of domestic soyabean seed. “Lesser crushing of soyabean is pushing higher import of crude soyabean oil to India,” he said.

Rapeseed

Export of rapeseed meal declined to 7.13 lt during April-December of 2021-22 as against 9.16 lt in the corresponding period of the previous year. For this, he said rapeseed was crushed heavily during the initial months of the season last year.

Compared to this, the seed is hardly available now this year for crushing. This affected the export of rapeseed meal in the last two months. “New crop will be available for crushing by February-end or early March,” he said.

Ricebran

Export of ricebran extraction from India recorded a growth during the first nine months of the fiscal 2021-22.

The country exported 5.06 lt of ricebran extraction during April-December of 2021-22 as against 3.39 lt in the corresponding period of 2020-21. Mehta said ricebran extraction is performing better due to larger demand from Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Export of castormeal stood at 2.82 lt during April-December of 2021-22 as against 3.16 lt in April-December of 2020-21.

South Korea – a major importer

South Korea imported a majority of 4.65 lt of oilmeals from India during the first nine months of the fiscal 2021-22. This included 2.38 lt of rapeseed meal, 1.97 lt of castorseed meal and 29,166 tonne of soyameal. Vietnam imported 4.22 lt of oilmeals during the period. This included 3.47 lt of ricebran extraction, 72,093 tonne of rapeseed meal, 3,180 tonne of soyameal and 305 tonne of groundnut meal.

Thailand imported 1.42 lt of oilmeals from India, including 1.28 lt of rapeseed meal, 9,816 tonne of castorseed meal, 2,751 tonne of soyameal, and 1,367 tonne of ricebran extraction. Bangladesh imported 2.77 lt of oilmeals from India during the first nine months of 2021-22. This included 97,178 tonne of ricebran extractions, 1.80 lt of rapeseed meal, and 233 tonne of soyameal.

Taiwan’s import of oilmeals from India stood at 73,805 tonne during the period, including 51,139 tonne of castorseed meal, 18,462 tonne of rapeseed meal, 3,600 tonne of soyameal, and 604 tonne of groundnut meal. The US imported 56,312 tonne of oilmeals from India during April-December of 2021-22. This included 55,013 tonne of soyameal.

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