Outpriced in the international market, Indian oilmeal exports reported a sharp drop in August compared to shipments in the same month last year.

As per the data compiled by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), oilmeal exports in August provisionally stood at 98,871 tonnes, nearly 73 per cent down from 3,59,752 tonnes in the same month last year.

The overall export of oilmeals during April-August is reported at 1,016,682 tonnes compared to 1,326,626 tonnes in the same period last year, a drop of 23 per cent.

“This is mainly due to higher price of domestic soybean meal, thanks to higher MSP of soybean. This made the domestic oilmeal expensive in international market compared to other origins,” the SEA said on Friday.

Speaking to BusinessLine , BV Mehta, Executive Director, SEA, said prices of oils have remained suppressed while oilseed prices have gone up due to higher MSP.

“We are losing our competitiveness in the international market. The crushing should be supported by either oilmeal exports or by oil prices. But oil prices are not supporting as they are lower and meal has outpriced. When seed prices are increased with MSP support, then oilmeal exports should also be supported with incentives,” Mehta said

SEA data revealed that exports to all major destinations dropped, including Vietnam (-47.35%), Iran (-15.18%) and Thailand (12.60%).

Mehta added that export numbers are provisional only.

The prices in August for key oilmeals, including soybean meal, rapeseed meal and castor seed meal have increased compared to same month last year. Soybean meal quoted at $433 per tonne FOB Indian port in August, which was $406 last year. Rapeseed meal prices quoted higher at $220 as against $216, and castorseed prices quoted at $108 as against $97. Notably, the rupee depreciated from ₹69.63 against a US dollar in August 2018 to ₹71.19 in August 2019.

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