September 8, 2009

India's soymeal cash prices had dropped around 10 percent to US$375 a tonne, free alongside ship (FAS) in the last week and were likely to slide further amid improved rains and a expected record US soy crop, traders said on Monday (Sept 7).

India's soy crop, suffering from the worst monsoon in nearly four decades, recently received widespread rains in the central soy-growing region.

A leading global trading firm bought 5,000 tonnes of soymeal at US$375 a tonne on Friday (Sept 4), the lowest price paid so far for the new crop which would be harvested next month, said one trader in Cebu.

Buyers had become cautious and were taking smaller quantities, the trader said.

Traders said Indian soymeal prices could fall below last year's lowest of around US$365 a tonne FAS.

New crop soy futures in Chicago <SX9>, the global benchmark, are down 12.5 percent from their peak in mid-June on expected record crop.

India has sold around 400,000 tonnes of soymeal from the new-crop since July for shipments beginning November, mainly to buyers in Southeast Asia.