March 6, 2015
India's soymeal exports seen to fall to 26-year low
Higher prices of India's soymeal and cheaper alternatives from South America have led the country's soymeal exports to fall to a four-month low in February.
The easing of trade sanctions on Iran will also aggravate the situation as South American supplies open up to the country. As a result, India's soymeal exports could plummet to a 26-year low by yearend in March.
With India's soymeal export price kept at US$458/tonne last month, the downward trend could lead to lower sales which, in turn, might stagnate domestic soybean prices.
Of late, India's export performance for soymeal is rather woeful; according to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), shipments in February reached 64,514 tonnes, down 65% from a year ago.
The country is facing stiff competition from Brazil and Argentina which sell soymeal US$40-45/tonne cheaper.
Poor soymeal sales held back overall oilmeal exports by 41% to 181,996 tonnes in February.
In 2013/14, India exported 4.3 million tonnes of oilmeal, including 2.8 million tonnes of soymeal.