Export of oil meals from India drops 35 per cent in September

Export of oil meals from India, a major raw material for animal feed, has witnessed a drop of 35 per cent in September to 213,744 tonne compared to 330,567 tonne in September 2023, according to the data compiled by the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA). The overall export of oilmeals during April to September of FY24 declined by 9 per cent to 2,082,533 tonne compared to 2,276,120 tonne during the same period of last year mainly due to reduction in export of rapeseed meal, castorseed meal.

In the first half of FY24, the export of soybean meal rose to 9.08 lakh tonne compared to 5.86 lakh tons in the same period of last year, thanks to higher imports by UAE., Iran and France. Bangladesh, South Korea and Thailand are the major importers of rapeseed meal.

In the meantime, SOPA has estimated kharif soybean production at 125.18 lakh tonne compared to last year's estimate of 118.74 lakh tons. SOPA has reported the area sown at 118.3 lakh hectares lower than the government-estimated 127.13 lakh hectares, the SEA said in a release.

During April-September of FY24, South Korea imported 359,204 tonne of oilmeals (compared to 462,187 tonne) consisting of 251,438 tonne of rapeseed meal, 79,379 tonnes of castorseed meal and 28,387 tonnes of soybean meal. Vietnam imported 131,606 tonne of oilmeals (compared to 302,460 tonne) consisting of 110,279 tonnes of rapeseed meal, 8,459 tonne of soybean meal, 10,970 tonne of De-oiled Rice Bran Extraction and 1,897 tonne of groundnut meal.

Thailand imported 211,655 tonne of oilmeals (compared to 374,629 tonne) consisting of 207,953 tonne of rapeseed meal and 3,674 tonne of soybean meal. Bangladesh sourcing rapeseed meal and soybean meal from India and imported 398,068 tonne of oilmeals (compared to 435,577 tonne), consisting of 354,760 tonne of rapeseed meal and 43,308 tonne of soybean meal. Iran has become the largest import of soybean meal from India (including shipment via Dubai) and imported 114,475 tonne of soybean meal.