MUMBAI: India's soymeal exports are set to halve in the current year to a four-year low after prices surged 47% over the past month, eroding the competitiveness of Indian animal feed against South American supplies, industry officials told Reuters.
The drop in Indian exports is likely to help suppliers in South and North America increase soymeal shipments to Asian buyers that traditionally source from India.
"Indian prices are much higher than global prices. Oil mills are not even getting fresh export inquiries, let alone securing export deals," said Manoj Agrawal, managing director of Maharashtra Oil Extractions, a soymeal exporter.
Indian soymeal is being offered for around $680 per metric ton on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for June-loading shipments, compared to $430 offered by South American suppliers, exporters said.
Exports from India will fall to around 900,000 metric tons in the 2025/26 marketing year ending in September, down from last year's 2.02 million tons, Agrawal said.
"Supplies from South American countries are rising and are far more competitive than Indian soymeal. Buyers have switched to those countries," said Vinod Jain, the founder of agricultural goods exporter Suraj Impex.
India is the world's largest importer of vegetable oil but has a surplus of soymeal, which it ships to Asian and European countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Germany and the Netherlands, where it typically commands a premium as it is produced from non-genetically-modified soybean seeds.
The South Asian country imports most of its palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soyoil and sunflower oil are mainly sourced from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Local soymeal prices were 64,625 Indian rupees ($670.11) per ton on Tuesday, up 47% over the past month and 85% since the start of the season on October 1, tracking gains in soybean prices.
Soybean prices are rallying as Indian production has fallen sharply due to bad weather, while demand for soymeal from the domestic poultry industry remains strong, said Ashok Bhutada, a leading soybean processor based in Latur, in India's Maharashtra state.
"Tight supplies are keeping soybean prices firm, and that is likely to keep soymeal prices elevated over the next few months," said Bhutada.
Source Name : Economic Times