Soyameal exports were flat in November rising marginally to 5.19 lakh tonnes (lt) against 5.17 lt in the corresponding period a year ago on account of lower crushing as farmers continue to hold back their produce expecting better prices.

However, exports for the first two months of the oil year starting October 2013 were 7.14 ltagainst 5.68 lt in the corresponding period last year, registering a 25.70 per cent growth.

For the current financial year so far, the exports have registered a growth of 13.16 per cent over corresponding last year. Soyameal exports during April-November 2013 were 15.90 lt against 14.05 lt in corresponding last year.

The Soyabean Processors Association of India expects overall meal shipments to remain around four million tonnes (mt) in the current fiscal. “Exports could have been higher if crushing operations were normal,” said Rajesh Agrawal, spokesperson for SOPA. “Market arrivals of soyabean continue to be poor as crushing is not going on as much as it should have been,” he said.

Under normal circumstances soyabean crushing during November should have been around 15 lt, but the industry has been able to crush only around 8-9 lt this year due to lower arrivals. Also, high bean prices are seen hurting the profitability of oil meal processors. Soyabean prices in Indore which ruled around Rs 35,000 a tonne in early October are currently ruling higher by over 10 per cent at around Rs 38,880. Iran was the largest buyer of the Indian soyameal during November with shipments to the West Asian nation estimated at 1.87 lt.

France and Japan were the other top buyers with shipments estimated at 88,000 and 72,565 tonnes respectively. Excess rains this year have shrunk the soyabean crop size, which is now pegged at 12.2 mt compared to the earlier estimate of 12.9 mt.

The higher than expected crop losses in States such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan forced the SOPA to revise downwards its earlier projections.

vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in

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