December 20, 2007

India ups soy exports by more than 50 percent

Thanks to increased global demands for the commodity, soy exports in India has been more than half of the targeted exports of 4.5 million tonnes that can last through September 2008.

Rajesh Agrawal of the Soy Processors Association of India said the rise has been noted since October this year.

The grain has faced serious shortage in countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and South Korea and even in US, where farmers had planted the smallest acreage to soy in 12 years.

The grain shortage has also benefited exporters over high prices.

The country raised its export target from 4 million tonnes estimated in September after the domestic soy crop forecast was raised to 9.45 million tonne from 8.87 million, Agrawal said. Soy is crushed into soymeal for animal feed and into soy oil for cooking and alternative fuel.

Agrawal said that Indian soymeal prices have almost doubled to around US$400 a tonne, excluding freight costs, from a year earlier.

Indian exporters have been contracted to sell as much as 100,000 tonnes by European traders. Chinese firms were also seeking more from India to take advantage of lower freight rates, he said.

India may ship as much as 500,000 tonnes of soymeal to China in the year to September, compared with 132,000 tonnes last year.