India sells soymeal at record prices

“This is the highest-ever price for soymeal contracts,”
Davish Jain, chairman of Central Organisation of Oil Industry and Trade, told
Reuters from Indore, the hub of the country’s soybean trade. He said India had
so far contracted to export close to 500,000 tonnes of soymeal from the new
crop, harvest of which begins in October.

Rising demand in Southeast
Asia could boost export contracts to almost one million tonnes by the end of
September, he said, compared with contracts for around 300,000 tonnes at the
same time last year. Jain said Indian soymeal was being currently quoted at
$290-$300 per tonne free on board, against around $200 a year ago. “China has
bought at levels of above $330 per tonne, including cost and freight,” said
Jain. “It is a real bull market.”

More demand for animal
feed
China is turning to nearby India for soymeal as record freight rates
for dry cargoes are pushing up costs for soy imports from the United States,
while demand for animal feed is picking up from the pig sector. Traders at a
grains conference in Perth put Chinese soymeal buys from India at 50,000 tonnes,
but Chinese industry officials said the country had booked 70,000-80,000 tonnes
for shipment between October and November.

Source:
Reuters