Indian soyameal exports plummeted in August and are expected to remain weak until the year end, when new crop arrives, as poor supplies and high prices of the animal feed drive traditional buyers away from the leading Asian supplier. Soyameal exports, which share nearly two-thirds of India's annual oilmeal exports, dropped 58 percent to 2,778 tonnes in August from a month ago, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement on Friday.
Exports of the animal feed plunged 84 percent to 110,159 tonnes during the five-month period from April from a year earlier, the SEA data showed. "The weak trend in soyameal exports is likely to continue till the new soyabean crop arrives in local markets," said B.V. Mehta, executive director of SEA. Traders said poor supplies of soyabeans for crushing in local markets in India would keep soyameal prices higher compared with other origins and clip demand.
Indian soyameal shipments were $100 per tonne costlier than South American supplies, which were available at about $490 per tonne this month. Last month, soyameal exports were 18.5 percent costlier than a year ago, the Mumbai-based trade body said. Export prospects for Indian soyameal appeared dull until December, when new-crop soyameal shipments to Southeast Asia arrives after a month's delay, a Mumbai-based trader said.
Until then, South American supplies are expected to lure the traditional buyers. Despite the drop in soyameal sales, India's oilmeal exports rose last month mainly driven by demand for rapeseed meal from South Korea and Thailand. Oilmeal exports rose 6.7 percent to 133,404 tonnes in August from a month ago, while rapeseed meal exports rose a fifth to 105,375 tonnes.
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