Oilmeal exports touch 662,250 tn

The oilmeals exports have touched 662,250 tonne in February from 272,196 tonne in the same last year. Between April 2005 and February 2006, the exports have risen 48 per cent to 3,613,100 tonne against 2,439,849 tonne in the same period last year.

According to Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), the export of soybean rose to 2,712,000 tonne in April 05 - February 06 compared with 1,635,000 tonne last year.

The exports of castor meal has increased to 189,000 tonne against 70,000 tonne last year as castor meal is increasingly being used as an organic fertiliser in Vietnam, Thailand and Japan apart from the traditional markets Taiwan and South Korean, said B V Mehta, executive director, SEA.

The groundnut meal maintained its share while rapeseed meal export went down by 82,000 tonne due to less crushing in last few months. Rice bran extraction export touched 115,000 tonne compared with 43,000 tonne last year.

"Looking to the world demand and the price competitiveness, the overall export of oil meal from the country is expected to maintain the pace and may set a new record for the year 2005-06 (April-March) crossing 40 lakhs tonne against 26.9 lakh tonne last year and 33.2 lakh tonne in 2003-04," he added.

The export from Kandla port in April 05 - February 06 is reported at 2,111,825 tonne (58 per cent), followed by Mumbai which reported 607,375 tonne (17 per cent).

Export from other ports: Vizag - 354,225 tonne (10 per cent), Bedi -347,725 tonne (10 per cent), Kakinada -114,925 tonne (3 per cent) and Bhavnagar -75,750 tonne (2 per cent).