November 2, 2009
India traders contract one million tonnes soymeal for exports
Indian traders have contracted about one million tonnes of new-season soymeal so far to be shipped in the November-December period, a senior industry official said Saturday.
The contracts have been done at around US$390 a ton, Davish Jain, president of the Central Organisation of Oil and Trade, told reporters.
India is likely to export about two million to 2.5 million tons of soymeal by the end of March, he said.
However, exports have slowed in the past few days due to rising prices, Jain said. Prices have moved up to about US$400 a ton, he added.
India exports soymeal mainly to Southeast Asian countries.
The marketing year for soymeal starts in October, but supply picks up from November, when the bulk of the new crop starts arriving in the local market.
Soymeal carryover stocks from last year have surged due to higher imports of vegetable oils, he said.
Carryover stocks are estimated at about 500,000 tonnes in the crop year ended September 30, compared with negligible carryover stocks last year.
India's total vegetable oil imports in the November-September period were up at eight million tonnes from 5.4 million tonnes a year earlier.
