Oil meal industry to explore ways to boost exports in East mkts

KOLKATA: The domestic oilmeal industry will send a delegation to markets in the Far East to explore ways to boost dwindling exports. Last fiscal, India’s oilmeal exports fell 11% in volume terms, mainly due to rising competition, China’s re-entry into the Far East markets and its ban on rapeseed meal imports from India, and Vietnam’s increase in domestic production of the commodity.
“Exports to Japan and Vietnam have sharply declined in the last two years,” said BV Mehta, executive director of Solvent Extractors Association (SEA).

To deepen footprint in these markets, SEA has decided to send a 14-member delegation to Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City from May 31 to June 12. The delegation will comprise oilmeal manufacturers and exporters, technology experts and international commodity brokers.

“We will also apprise them about India's capability to supply various oilmeals to new buyers and undertake on-the-spot study of overall demand, as well as understand quality requirement of oilmeals by end-users," Mehta said.

Soymeal shipment in April dropped by about a tenth from a year ago to 89,883 tonne, mainly because of high prices. Exports of rice bran extract and castormeal too registered a sharp decline. Castormeal exports in April were down 37% year-on-year to 20,378 tonne.