Soyabean meal may suffer a decline in production during the ongoing kharif season but this is not likely to have a significant impact on exports, industry executives said citing sufficient carry forward stocks.
This will help the country avoid a major dent in revival of India's soyameal exports seen last year, they said. "Although soyabean production in 2017-18 is likely to be lower at about 9 million tonnes, the availability will be adequate as we have high carry forward stock," said BV Mehta, secretary, Solvent Extractors Association of India. In the current oil year (October 2016-September 2017), India has exported nearly 18 lakh tonnes of soya meal.
According to data available with the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), exports between October 2016 and August 2017 shot up 362 per cent in a year to 17.35 lakh tonnes from 3.75 lakh tonnes. The association expects a fall in soyabean production this year but it is yet to assess the current crop to issue its production estimates.
"Soyabean production will be lower than in the previous year as the area sown has been down and yields are also expected to be lower than in the previous year due to a long dry spell in July," said SOPA president Davish Jain.
Adequate availability of soyabean seeds for crushing and possibility of soyabean prices remaining subdued, mainly due to a price support scheme announced by the Madhya Pradesh government, will help soya meal exports.
The industry has pegged India's soya meal export during 2017-18 oil year at 1-2 million tonnes. However, it is worried about factors such as strengthening of the rupee against the US dollar and the glut in soyabean oil due to cheap imports. "Developments like the recent rise in soyabean prices can make India outpriced in international market," said Jain.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com