September 26, 2008
India may sell 300,000 tonnes soymeal in next 2 weeks
Indian exporters are likely to clinch deals for the shipment of 300,000 tonnes of soy meal in the next two weeks and the total exports may reach an all-time high of 5.5 million tonnes in 2008-09, trading executives said Thursday (September 25).
"India's new soy crop has shaped up well and buyers in Southeast Asia are yet to cover their near-term requirements for soy meal," said Davish Jain, managing director of Prestige Feed Mills, one of India's largest soymeal exporters by volume.
Jain said this will likely result in a spate of export deals over the next few weeks for shipments between November and Dec. 15.
He added shipments between October and January are likely to be more than 2 million tonnes.
So far, trading was slow for the new crop as there was a large gap between the price ideas of buyers and sellers; also, soy harvesting had been delayed, but sales are expected to pick up by mid-October, said Rajesh Agrawal, Coordinator of the Soy Processors Association of India.
He said there was a gap of US$35-US$40/tonne between the bid and offered prices which had slowed down sales during the last few weeks.
Jain said trades are now gathering momentum at US$370-US$375/tonne, free on board for bulk shipments from the western port of Kandla.
He added container shipments are being sold at US$400-US$410/tonne, FOB New Mumbai.