India’s oilmeal exports will likely top 4.5 million tonnes (mt) with rapeseed meal accounting for 2.5 mt and soyabean meal 1.5 mt during the current fiscal. Exports are set to surpass 4.34 mt last fiscal despite a ban on shipments of deoiled rice bran, the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) has said. “Cumulative exports of all oilmeals till November (in the current fiscal) have increased by around 21 per cent over the preceding period and crossed 28 lakh tonnes,” said SEA President Ajay Jhunjhunwala.

Soyameal shipments have turned buoyant as India has gained a competitive edge, while there is short-supply from Argentina. “Also exports of rapeseed meal was a record at 2.30 mt last fiscal and the trend is continuing in the current year with exports of around 1.6 mt till November. It will likely cross last year’s record export,” he said. 

Exports of castormeal are on track and are a notch above last year’s level.   

Rabi sowing up

Jhunjhunwala said sowing of oilseeds in the current rabi season at 99.11 lakh hectares (lh) has exceeded the five-year average of 84.45 lh and 98.1 lh last year. Rapeseed/mustard leads the pack with a coverage of 92.45 lh exceeding the 5-year average area of 73 lh and 90.16 lh a year ago.

The acreage has increased mainly in Uttar Pradesh, the SEA president said, adding the area under groundnut, sunflower, safflower and sesamum are down a tad currently, though. 

The agro-climatic conditions during the rabi season are expected to be close to normal, indicating a promising harvest of rabi oilseed crop, he said.

Referring to the ban on exports of deoiled rice bran, Jhunjhunwala said the Centre extended the ban despite the industry’s appeal that not permitting exports will not reduce the price of dairy products. Solvent extraction units will lose their export market that has been developed painstakingly, he said.

Refined oils duty difference

The SEA president said with the duty difference between crude and refined edible oils being only 8.25 per cent, imports of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palmolein in November doubled compared with October. “This is to the detriment of our processing industry and of benefit to the  exporting countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. The association has urged the government to increase the import duty on refined edible oils to at least 15 per cent higher than that on crude edible oil to enable our domestic industry to have a level playing  field,” he said.