Soyabean meal exports touched a historic low with a sharp decline of 98 per cent in February 2016 at 1,127 tonnes as against 64,515 tonnes in the same period last year.

The data collected and compiled by the Soybean Processors’ Association of India, Indore, revealed that so far during the financial year soyabean meal exports during April 2015 to February 2016 period stood at 70,392 tonnes as compared to 5,99,818 tonnes in the same period last year, showing a drop of 88.26 per cent.

In the current oil year (October–September), total exports of soyabean meal during October 2015 to February 2016 was 27,647 tonnes as against 5,02,958 tonnes last year, down by 94.50 per cent, the statement said.

According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) data, the total oilmeal exports for February 2016 stood at 53,866 tonnes as compared to 208,499 tonnes in the same month last year, indicating a drop of 47 per cent.

Meanwhile, the overall export of oilmeals during April 2015 to February 2016 declined by 52 per cent as compared to last year and was reported at 1,092,905 tonnes against 2,256,436 tonnes during the same period of the last year and 3,969,903 tonnes in 2013-14, an SEA statement said.

Soyabean crushing has dropped sharply due to the continuous disparity and high price of the domestic market, affecting the overall domestic availability of both oils and meals.

Capacity utilisation is at the lowest. The industry is passing through a tough time and many plants have closed down or are operating at low capacity, an SEA statement said.

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