November 14, 2005

 

India selling 20,000 tons soymeal to Pakistan every month
 

 

India has been exporting about 20,000 tonnes of soymeal to Pakistan each month, and business could easily be doubled with greater availability of rail wagons, industry officials said Saturday.

 

"Nearly 10 rail rakes, each carrying over 2,000 tonnes of soymeal are being sold to Pakistan every month," said Rajesh Agrawal, Chairman, Soymeal Processors Association of India or SOPA, a local industry lobby group.

 

He said soymeal was fetching Rs9,300-9,400/tonne, delivered at Attari border, in the north-western state of Punjab.

 

A devastating earthquake rocked the subcontinent last month in Kashmir, but exporters said this has not hit India's trade with Pakistan by rail, which is through the land border in Punjab.

 

Trade in commodities such as soymeal could in fact be accelerated if more rail wagons were available for delivery, said D.R. Kalra, Executive Director, SOPA.

 

He said goods had to be transferred to Pakistani wagons at the border and unless they were available in adequate numbers, trade would suffer.

 

Traders were keen to sell soymeal to Pakistan as the prices fetched there were a shade higher than those in India's domestic market.

 

In India, there has been a considerable decline in soymeal prices over the last two years commensurate with the fall in rates of beans and oil.

 

"Until a couple of years ago, poultry farms paid us Rs13,000/tonne for soymeal; they now shell out a mere Rs8,200/tonne," said Sandeep Agrawal, Director, Gujarat Ambuja Exports, a leading soymeal trading firm.

 

Kalra said the shortage of rail wagons on the other side, had also hit soymeal trade with Bangladesh.

 

India's total soymeal exports to Pakistan and Bangladesh combined was estimated at 350,000 tonnes annually.