Soyabean crushing has slowed down on muted domestic demand for soyameal from livestock feed and food segments and also the prevailing sluggish trend in exports.

Also read: Large soyabean crop, weak soft oil price may keep palm oil prices on leash 

As per the latest supply and demand estimates projected by the Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA), the apex trade body for the sector, soyabean crushings in the current oil 2023-24 year starting October till end-February were down by about 5.4 per cent at 52.50 lakh tonnes (lt) over 55.50 lt during the same period last year.

Muted demand for soyameal from the domestic livestock feed sector and the food sector coupled with low edible oil prices on higher imports are said to be the reason for the slowing pace of soyabean crushings.

As a result, the production of soyabean meal was down 6.68 per cent at 41.43 lt during October-February over same period last year’s 44.40 lt. The muted demand for meal has influenced the prices of soyabean, which have been bearish over the past few weeks.

Bearish price trend

Soyabean prices, which have been ruling below the minimum support prices (MSP) levels of ₹4,600 per quintal over the past few weeks, continue to be on the softening trend.

Modal prices across the mandis of Madhya Pradesh, the main producing region, continued to rule below MSP and stood in the range of ₹3,071-4,690 per quintal on Monday. Modal prices stood above MSP only in two mandis of MP — Daloda and Sailana — on Monday, according to the Agmarknet data.

Due to the bearish price trend, the market arrivals have also slowed down. Total market arrivals as per SOPA estimates stood at 71 lt as of February-end as compared to the previous year’s 70 lt.

Export volume up

Though the pace of exports of soyameal has slowed down, the volumes continue to be marginally higher than the previous year. Soyameal exports during Oct-Feb stood at 8.94 lt over same period last year’s 8.52 lt. India’s soyameal exports have slowed down on higher domestic prices. Last month SOPA has revised the export projections for oil year 2023-24 to 14 lt from the earlier 18 lt. “Exports during the rest of the year will depend on how the prices behave in the international market,” said DN Pathak, Executive Director, SOPA.

Also read: Soyabean, meal prices under pressure on rising global supplies

Also, the offtake by the feed sector in the domestic market was down at 29 lt during Oct-Feb this year as compared to 30.25 lt during the same period last year. Similarly, the food sector offtake was down at 3.75 lt over 4.75 lt in the same period last year. Commenting on the lower offtake by the feed sector, Pathak said the poultry sector – the main consumer of soyameal in the domestic market — may have found out other sources of protein.

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