The overall export of oilmeals came down by 18 per cent in the first eight months of the financial year 2021-22.
Data available with the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India showed that the country exported 15.96 lakh tonnes (lt) of oilmeals during April-November of 2021-22 as against 19.51 lt in the corresponding period of 2020-21.
The country exported 1.62 lt of oilmeals in November 2021 as against 3.32 lt in November 2020, down by 51 per cent.
BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said that the decline in exports during the first eight months of 2021-22 is mainly due to lesser export of soyabean meal.
Drop in soyabean export
The total soyabean meal export from India stood at 2.19 lt in April-November of 2021-22 as against 6.36 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Soyabean crush margins in India are currently squeezed. There is a relatively high price expectation of farmers for soyabean seed. The seed price is currently quoted over ₹6,400 per quintal, he said. Stating that India is outpriced for soyabean meal export as ex-Kandla quoted at $710 as against $413 of Brazil origin and $469 of Argentina, he said the country is unlikely to export in next two to three months due to high price of domestic soyabean seed.
Ricebran up
However, ricebran extraction performed better during the period. Mehta said the performance of ricebran extraction is due to the demand from Vietnam and Bangladesh.
Also read: Soyameal, rapemeal drag oilmeals export lower by 11% in April-October
Vietnam imported 3.78 lt of oilmeals in April-November of 2021-22 as against 2.66 lt during the corresponding period of 2020-21. India exported 3.06 lt of ricebran extraction, 70,075 tonnes of rapeseed meal, 2,020 tonnes of soyabean meal, and 305 tonnes of groundnut meal to Vietnam during April-November of this year.
Bangladesh imported 2.71 lt of oilmeals (2.59 lt) during the first eight months of the current fiscal. India exported 94,234 tonnes of ricebran extractions, 1.76 lt of rapeseed meal and 188 tonnes of soybean meal to Bangladesh during April-November of 2021-22.
S Korea tops imports
South Korea, which was the major importer of Indian oilmeals during the period, imported 4.08 lt of oilmeals (5.42 lt) during April-November of 2021-22. This included 2.35 lt of rapeseed meal, 1.50 lt of castorseed meal and 22,502 tonnes of soyabean meal.
Thailand imported 1.40 lt (1.26 lt) of oilmeals during April-November of 2021-22. This included 1.27 lt of rapeseed meal, 9,816 tonnes of castorseed meal, 2,469 tonnes of soyabean meal, and 1,367 tonnes of ricebran extraction.
Taiwan imported 64,657 tonnes (96,066 tonnes), and the US imported 53,341 tonnes of (1.50 lt) of oilmeals during April-November of 2021-22.