India’s exports of oilmeal plunged a record 94.3 per cent in October from a year ago, as higher prices prompted key Asian buyers to switch to South American rivals offering a steep discount from Indian prices, trade data showed on Friday.

Indian oilmeal exporters were forced to raise prices, as oilseed output fell, hit by the first back-to-back drought in three decades although South American suppliers trimmed prices, thanks to abundant supply and sharp drops in their currencies.

In October, India shipped 13,716 tonnes of oilmeal, down from 238,703 tonnes a year ago, Mumbai-based trade body Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) said in a statement.

In April-October, the first seven months of the current financial year, India’s annual oilmeal exports shrank by two-fifths, to 763,113 tonnes.

The overseas sale of Indian soyameal, the animal feed, became uncompetitive as a 15 per cent output drop pushed up domestic soyabean prices. Soyameal forms the bulk of Indian oilmeal exports.

Indian soyameal exports last month slumped 85.4 per cent from a year ago as prices of about $500 per tonne forced customers to turn to countries such as Argentina and Brazil that are selling the meal for $360-370 a tonne, the statement said.

Indian key soyameal client South Korea last month turned to South America for cheaper imports, skipping purchases from the South Asian nation.

During the period from April to October, South Korea shipped in 18.2 per cent less soyameal from India on the year, the statement showed.

Higher domestic prices of soyameal even made imports viable for the poultry industry. Indian buyers have contracted to import 7,000 tonnes of non-genetically modified soyameal at around $350 per tonne, for the first time in years.

India in October exported 3,079 tonnes of rapeseed meal, a decline of 97.8 per cent on the year, the data showed.

Rapeseed meal is used as organic fertiliser as well as animal feed, primarily in Indonesia, Myanmar and Taiwan.

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