Growth in global soymeal exports is likely to slow down in 2008-09 due to negative demand in some countries and lower shipments by the US and Brazil, a senior industry analyst said on Sunday.

"In the EU, soymeal demand could fall to 34-34.5 million tonnes compared to the earlier estimate of 34.7 million tonnes as we are overestimating the pork and poultry growth," said Thomas Mielke, editor-in-chief of Hamburg-based Oil World.

In the current year ending September, EU soymeal demand is pegged at 36.14 million tonnes.

Increased import of sunflower meal in the EU is also likely to affect soymeal shipments, he said.

In Brazil, growth in domestic poultry sector is likely to lead to a rise in soymeal demand by 1 million tonnes, affecting shipments from the country, Mielke said.

He predicts Brazil's soymeal exports in the marketing year starting October to be at 11.2 million tonnes, down from 12.3 million tonnes estimated in the current year. Also, the US is likely to ship around 7.60 millions tons of soymeal in 2008-09, lower than 8.37 million tonnes this year.

However, the slowdown in exports is unlikely to pressure soymeal prices much because of good soy prices, he said.

Soymeal prices will track prices of soy, which are likely to be higher because of tight soy balance stocks, he said.

"The soymeal price in 2008-09 is likely to remain unchanged or slightly lower than the average of US$415/tonne for 2007-08," he said.