Indian soymeal exports slump on higher prices

Soymeal supplies from India, Asia's biggest exporter, dropped 41% in the three months ended December, as a surge in local seed prices prompted buyers to shift to South American supplies.

Shipments in the period were 839,996 tonnes, compared with 1.42 million tonnes a year ago, said Rajesh Agrawal, coordinator for the Soybean Processors' Association of India. Exports in December slumped 51% to 324,088 tonnes from a year earlier, he said.

Soy prices in India advanced 18% in the final quarter of 2009 after drought reduced production in Argentina and Brazil, which in turn increased demand for supplies from the South Asian country. India may miss its target to export four million tonnes of soymeal in the year to September, Agrawal said November 30.

But Indian soymeal prices are still higher than those of the US and Latin America, and exports are not expected to pick up until March, said Agrawal.

Soymeal, India's largest oilseed meal export, is added to poultry feed as a form of protein to aid birds' growth. Sales were 3.21 million tonnes in the 2008-09 season.

Shipments of all oilseed meal, including canola, slumped 32% to 1.05 million tonnes in three months ended December from 1.54 million tonnes a year earlier, the Mumbai-based the Solvent Extractors' Association said.