India’s oilmeal exports dropped sharply by 40% year-on-year in December to 2.40 lakh tonnes, compared with 3.98 lakh tonnes in the same month last year, mainly due to a steep fall in soybean meal shipments, according to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA). Soybean meal exports plunged to 1.14 lakh tonnes from 2.78 lakh tonnes a year earlier, reflecting weak price competitiveness despite some support from European buyers.
Exports of other oilmeals also declined during the month. Rapeseed meal shipments fell to 71,452 tonnes from 88,746 tonnes, castorseed meal exports dropped to 21,904 tonnes from 28,452 tonnes, and groundnut meal exports decreased to 1,609 tonnes from 3,050 tonnes. In contrast, rice bran extraction exports surged sharply to 31,237 tonnes from just 70 tonnes a year earlier, providing limited support to overall volumes.
For the April–December period of the current financial year, India’s total oilmeal exports declined 6% to 29.75 lakh tonnes, down from 31.50 lakh tonnes a year ago. SEA attributed the subdued trend to multiple factors, including reduced rapeseed crushing in India and a recent rise in global prices, which is expected to curb Chinese demand for Indian rapeseed meal.
Domestically, soybean meal demand has remained weak as livestock feed makers increasingly prefer cheaper distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Major importers of Indian oilmeals include China, South Korea, Bangladesh and Germany.
