| Date: |
08-04-2010 |
| Subject: |
Soyameal exports drop to five-year low |
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New Delhi: Due to sluggish global demand and low crushing, India’s soyameal exports went down to a five year low of 2.1 million tonne in 2009-10, declining from 4.2 million tonne achieved a year ago.
According to data released by the Indore-based Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA) on Wednesday, soymeal exports in March 2010 also went down by more than 23% to 1.69 lakh tonne from 2.22 lakh tonne same month last year.
Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea are the key export destination for Indian soyameal.
“Shipments have declined due to lower crushing and price disparity in the last few months,” Rajesh Agrawal, coordinator for the Indore-based SOPA said in a statement. Crushing has become unviable for processors as high soybean prices have hit their margins badly. India exported 7.4 lakh tonne of soyameal to Vietnam, 4.54 lakh tonne to Japan, 2.38 lakh tonne to Thailand and 1.50 lakh tonne to Indonesia in 2009-10.
India ‘s annual production of soybean has been in range of 8.5-10 million tonne during the last few years and the production in 2009-10 is estimated to be around 8.9 million tonne.
Soyameal is processed from soybeans. Brazil and Argentina are the main competitors of Indian soymeal in the global market.
India, Asia’s biggest supplier of soyameal, exported 5 million tonne of the animal feed last year. Out of 9 million hectares of land under soyabean cultivation in the country, more than 4 million hectares are in Madhya Pradesh while 2.7 million hectares and 0.7 million hectares are in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Source : Financial Express
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