India soymeal exports to fall to four-year low on rising prices, favoring South America

India’s soymeal exports are set to halve in the current year to a four-year low after prices surged 47% over the past month, eroding the ​competitiveness of Indian animal feed against South American supplies, industry officials told ‌Reuters.

The drop in Indian exports is likely to help suppliers in South and North America increase soymeal shipments to Asian buyers that traditionally source from India, such as China.

The following analysis outlines the monthly export volumes of soy derivatives —specifically pellets and soybean meal — to all global destinations since January 2023. This data set was compiled and analyzed by Datamar:

Soybean Meal Exports to China | Jan 2023 – Mar 2026 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

“Indian prices are much higher than global prices. Oil ​mills are not even getting fresh export inquiries, let alone securing export deals,” said ​Manoj Agrawal, managing director of Maharashtra Oil Extractions, a soymeal exporter.

Indian soymeal ⁠is being offered for around $680 per metric ton on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for June-loading ​shipments, compared to $430 offered by South American suppliers, exporters said.

Exports from India will fall to ​around 900,000 metric tons in the 2025/26 marketing year ending in September, down from last year’s 2.02 million tons, Agrawal said.

“Supplies from South American countries are rising and are far more competitive than Indian soymeal. ​Buyers have switched to those countries,” said Vinod Jain, the founder of agricultural goods ​exporter Suraj Impex.

India is the world’s largest importer of vegetable oil but has a surplus of soymeal, ‌which it ⁠ships to Asian and European countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Germany and the Netherlands, where it typically commands a premium as it is produced from non-genetically-modified soybean seeds.

The South Asian country imports most of its palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soyoil and sunflower ​oil are mainly sourced ​from Argentina, Brazil, ⁠Russia and Ukraine.

Local soymeal prices were 64,625 Indian rupees ($670.11) per ton on Tuesday, up 47% over the past month and 85% since the ​start of the season on October 1, tracking gains in soybean ​prices.

Soybean prices ⁠are rallying as Indian production has fallen sharply due to bad weather, while demand for soymeal from the domestic poultry industry remains strong, said Ashok Bhutada, a leading soybean processor based ⁠in Latur, ​in India’s Maharashtra state.

“Tight supplies are keeping soybean prices ​firm, and that is likely to keep soymeal prices elevated over the next few months,” said Bhutada.

Source: Reuters

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