Indian soymeal exports nosedive 50%

India's soymeal exports in April have fallen by 50% to Rs95.99 crore (US$20.85 million) compared to the same month last year due to slow pace in crushing and fewer arrivals of soy on the market.

According to Indore-based Soybean Processors Association of India's (SOPA) official Rajesh Agarwal, soy crushing was poor due to operating margins facing pressure. As a result, the arrivals are also less causing a drop in exports.

For the first seven months of the 2009-10 oil year (October-September), India's soymeal shipments posted a 40% drop to Rs2,925.98 crore (US$635.73 million) from Rs4,824.56 crore (US$1.04 billion) in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Agarwal said high prices of Indian soymeal were another reason for fall in exports. "This time the South American crop has been very good. Our prices are not as competitive as their soymeal because our bean is expensive," he said.

In terms of volume, soymeal exports fell in April by 31.45% to 57,507 tonnes compared to the same month last year.

For the first seven months of the current oil year (October-September), exports dropped by 41.39% to 1.56 million tonnes from 2.66 million tonnes in the same period last year.

India's soymeal exports in 2009-10 oil year is expected to decline by 22% at 2.5 million tonnes against 3.2 million tonnes in 2008-09, Agarwal said.

Meanwhile, normal monsoon is expected to give India more soymeal output despite huge stocks of 3.2-3.4 million tonnes lying unutilised.

"If rains are normal and crop is good, soymeal exports will be in the normal range of 3.0-3.5 million tonnes in 2010-11, higher than 2009-10 estimates of 2.5 (million tonnes)," Agrawal said.