India’s April-March oil meal exports rise 8%

Mumbai: India’s oil meal exports in fiscal 2011/12 rose 8% on year to 5.48 million tonnes on strong demand from traditional buyers like Japan, Vietnam and South Korea, a leading trade body said on Wednesday.

Exports in March stood at 575,972 tonnes against 579,907 tonnes a year ago, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

Japan remained the biggest buyer of Indian meal with purchases of nearly 1.3 million tonnes in the fiscal year that ended in March, followed by Vietnam, which bought 903,554 tonnes.

Industry officials said exports in the current year that started in April depend on availability of beans for crushing and prices in the world market.

“Certainly exports will remain above 5 million tonnes. But forecasting exact exports is difficult right now,” B.V. Mehta, executive director at the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), told Reuters.

“Domestic meal demand, production of oil seeds and prices in the world market will influence exports.”

Beijing has halted imports of oil meals from India after it found a hazardous chemical in product last year.

“Ban from China is unlikely to affect on total exports. New markets are opening up. There is good demand from neighbouring countries for Indian meal,” Mehta said.