A decline in the export of rapeseed meals and castorseed meals led to a 9.34 per cent decline in the total export of oilmeals during the April-January period of the current fiscal.
India exported 36.03 lakh tonnes (lt) of oilmeals during the first 10 months of 2024-25 against 39.74 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
During April-January 2024-25, the export of rapeseed meals decreased to 15.42 lt (18.95 lt in April-January 2023-24), and castorseed meal exports declined to 2.58 lt (3.27 lt).
BV Mehta, Executive Director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), said Bangladesh is the major market for rapeseed meal. Uncertainty in the neighbouring country led to a reduction in the export volume in recent months. This has been reflected in the overall fall in the shipments of rapeseed meal during last few months.
Higher imports by European buyers
He said the export of soyabean meal revived and increased to 17.71 lt during the first 10 months of 2024-25 from 15.86 lt in the same period of previous fiscal due to higher imports by European buyers such as Germany and France.
During the current season, the government procured over 14.73 lt of soyabean at a minimum support price of ₹4,892 per quintal till February 11. Of this, 8.36 lt was procured in Maharashtra, 3.88 lt in Madhya Pradesh, and 0.99 lt in Rajasthan.
Per the first advance estimates released in November, the government is expecting soyabean crop at 133.60 lt for 2024-25 — up from 130.62 lt of previous year. Meanwhile, the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) has estimated a crop size of 125.82 lt for 2024-25, he said.
Major buyers
South Korea imported 5.99 lt of oilmeals (7.66 lt) from India during April-January 2024-25. This included 3.91 lt of rapeseed meal, 1.59 lt of castorseed meal, and 48,681 tonnes of soyabean meal.
India exported 2.07 lt of oilmeals (3.78 lt) during the first 10 months of 2024-25 to Vietnam. This included 1.72 lt of rapeseed meal, 20,658 tonnes of soyabean meal, 10,970 tonnes de-oiled ricebran extraction, and 2,916 tonnes of groundnut meal.
Thailand imported 3.53 lt of oilmeals (5.25 lt) from India during April-January 2024-25. This included 3.33 lt of rapeseed meal, 13,251 tonnes of soyabean meal, and 6,460 tonnes of groundnut meal.
India exported 6.21 lt of oilmeals (7.08 lt) to Bangladesh. This included 4.99 lt of rapeseed meal and 1.21 lt of soyabean meal. Iran imported 1.55 lt of soyabean meal during the first 10 months of 2024-25.
