October 13, 2009

India, Asia's third-biggest soymeal exporter, likely gathered 14 percent fewer oilseeds than forecast previously, a processors' group said.

 

Output in the year ended September 30 was 9.31 million tonnes, compared with an estimate of 10.8 million tonnes, the Soybean Processors Association of India said.

 

The estimate was cut after soy meal exports slumped 34 percent to 3.21 million tonnes in the year ended September 30 because of a smaller crop, the association said.

 

Soymeal, India's largest meal export, is added to poultry feed as a form of protein to aid birds' growth. The country usually sells more than 70 percent of its production abroad. The country may harvest 9.72 million tonnes this season, the processors' group said October 1.

 

The area seeded with soy rose to 9.61 million hectares this season from 9.64 million hectares a year ago, according to the farm ministry. Farmers may have a carry-over of 600,000 tonnes from the previous crop, the group said.