Oilmeal exports jumped by 57 per cent to 5.07 million tonnes last fiscal, driven by the high prices of edible oils, better crushing margins and demand from South-East Asia, according to an industry body.

The country shipped 3.22 mt of oilmeal (used as cattle and poultry feed) in the year-ago period, the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said in a statement.

During the 2009-10 fiscal, exports were down due to lower crop production, coupled with disparity in crushing during the crucial November 2009-February 2010 period, the statement said.

“However, in 2010-11, the oilseed crop increased to 27.8 mt from 24.9 mt in 2009-10 and also high prices of edible oils, good crushing margin and demand from South-East Asia pushed the exports mainly during November 2010-March 2011,” the SEA Executive Director, Mr B.V. Mehta, said.

In terms of value, oilmeal exports rose almost 59 per cent to Rs 8,220 crore from Rs 5,176 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

In March 2011, oilmeal exports rose more than two-fold (158 per cent) to 5.79 lakh tonnes from 2.24 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

Out of 50,71,779 tonnes of oilmeal exported from the country during the past fiscal, the share of soyabean meal was maximum at 38,38,375 tonnes, followed by rape mustard seed meal at 9,36,238 tonnes, castormeal at 2,09,036 tonnes. Rice bran extracts comprises another 66,650 tonnes and groundnut extracts 21,480 tonnes.

Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, China and Indonesia were the major destinations where India exported oilmeal during the past fiscal. European Union countries, Thailand, Iran and Taiwan, were some of the other countries.

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