October 8, 2013

 

India's soymeal exports down 5.5% in September

 

 

India's September soymeal exports dropped 5.5% from a month earlier to 173,381 tonnes, however shipments could rise as new crop starts rolling in from October.

 

Fresh harvests from this month will raise supplies of soy, helping Asia's leading soymeal exporter boost supplies to buyers such as Iran, Japan and Taiwan.

 

Soys are crushed to produce edible oils and animal feed.

 

Improved new season crop would cut local soy prices and push up overseas sales of soymeal, as expected by traders. The average export price for soymeal was US$510/tonne in September against US$520/tonne in August, free on board, as shown by data from the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA).

 

For the first half of this fiscal year from April, India's soymeal exports rose 6.2% from a year ago to 873,481 tonnes. India's total oilmeal exports rose 1.2% to 1.65 million tonnes during the period.

 

"The half-yearly imports rose mainly due to the weak value of Indian currency," said B.V. Mehta, SEA's executive director.

 

Weakness in the rupee, which is down about 12% against the dollar so far this year, is expected to support exports of the animal feed.

 

India exported US$1.8 billion of oilmeal in the fiscal year that ended in March 2013, when its annual exports of oilmeal fell 14.3% to 4.8 million tonnes.

 

Mehta said Indian soymeal exports lost ground this year in Vietnam where local supplies increased, but overseas sales of the animal feed surged in Iran and Europe. Iran, the biggest buyer of Indian soymeal since February, imported 518,178 tonnes in the first half of the current fiscal year, a 25% jump from a year ago period.

 

For a second straight year, Iran is set to emerge as the biggest buyer of soymeal from India. Iran's purchases of food items are excluded from Western sanctions aimed at halting its disputed nuclear programme. Tehran finds it hard to pay for imports due to the sanctions but India, its second biggest oil client after China, pays in rupees and these can be used by Iran to buy commodities such as rice and soymeal.

 

India's soymeal exports to Europe rose to 138,904 tonnes in April-September from 300 tonnes a year ago.

 

India's total oilmeal exports in September dropped around 6% to 294,830 tonnes from the previous month.