Soyameal exports declined 4 per cent to 34.73 lakh tonnes during the 2012-13 marketing year (October-September) which ended last month due to lower availability of soyabean for crushing.
During last year, the shipments stood at 36.23 lakh tonnes, the Soyabean Processors Association (SOPA) said in a statement.
Export of soyameal used as animal feed has increased sharply to 1.73 lakh tonnes in September this year from 2,864 tonnes in the same month last year.
“Exports have come down as farmers were holding onto the stocks which affected the crushing, and besides that prices at domestic market were not in parity with the prices at global market,” SOPA spokesperson Rajesh Agrawal said.
During the current oil year (October-September), Iran, Japan, France, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Korea are the major destinations for Indian Soybean meal exports.
Exports during April-September this fiscal increased 4.68 per cent to 8.76 lakh tonnes from 8.37 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.