India’s soymeal exports are
set to halve in the current year to a four-year low after prices
surged 47 per cent 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.
“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 per cent over the past month and 85 per cent 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.
Published on May 19, 2026