Oilmeal exports dip 20% in June on low meat output

India’s oilmeal exports declined by 20 per cent in June to 1.6 lakh tones, as against 1.9 lakh tonnes during the same month last year, the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) said on Wednesday. Oilmeal is primarily used as cattle feed.

Oilmeal exports dipped by over 13 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year to 5.3 lakh tonnes as against 6.1 lakh tonnes in the same period last financial year.

“Export of oilmeal declined continuously due to a steady decrease in meat production and a reduction in demand for compound feeds and a crisis in the livestock industry,” SEA Executive Director B V Mehta said in a statement.

The fall in international prices and lower realisation, coupled with lower crushing in the last few months also contributed to the decline in exports, he added.

While exports to South Korea and China improved during the April-June period of the current financial year, it dipped by a whopping 65 per cent to 69,939 tonnes in Vietnam. Shipments to South Korea clocked an increase of 39.7 per cent to 98,712 tonnes vis-a-vis 70,644 tonnes in the first quarter of the current financial year. Exports to China stood at 1.2 lakh tonnes, up 35 per cent from the same quarter of the previous financial year.