October 13, 2010
Asian demand for Indian soymeal rises
Asian demand for Indian soymeal, strong since July, has strengthened further this month with exporters busy signing new deals.
"This year is turning out to be good for the soymeal trade as demand from our traditional buyers has been strong," said Davish Jain, head of the Central Organisation for Oils Industry and Trade.
"Until the end of September, 400,000 tonnes of soymeal from the new crop were sold for shipment in October-December," Jain said.
More export contracts were signed in last 10-12 days for soymeal from the new crop. "We can estimate soymeal export orders were signed in excess of 500,000 tonnes," said Jain, referring to total contracts signed so far for soymeal from the new crop.
The demand for Indian soymeal is expected to stay strong in coming months, said senior industry officials. "Worldwide, there is supply tightness in soymeal as well as in corn," said the official. Both are widely used as cattle and poultry feed.
The global supply tightness comes at a time when India is expecting a bumper soybean output at around 10 million tonnes in the 2010-11 (November-October) oil season.
India's April-September soymeal exports rose 32% to 852,877 tonnes, compared with 644,569 tonnes a year ago. India's oil season is from November-October, while export figures are tabulated in April-March.
Global soymeal prices shot up in the past three days on a tight global supply outlook, especially after the USDA had scaled down soybean stocks in the US last week, Jain said.
Prices also increased over doubts about Brazil's soybean crop size in the 2011 season.