A decline in soybean meal exports led to a 12 per cent drop in overall shipments of oilmeal in August. Data compiled by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) showed that India exported 2.76 lakh tonne (lt) of oilmeal during August 2025 against 3.14 lt in August 2024, registering a decline of 12.1 per cent. India exported 80,233 tonne of soybean meal in August 2025 (1.56 lt in August 2024). Overall export of oilmeal declined to 17.93 lt during April-August 2025-26 from 18.68 lt in the corresponding period of the previous year, a decline of 4 per cent.
Competitive American soymeal
BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA, said the export of soybean meal reduced to 7.57 lt in the first five months of 2025-26 from 8.49 lt during the same period a year ago. He attributed the decline to recent downward pressure on soybean meal prices in India. When compared with lower prices in South and North America, this may impact soybean meal export, he said. Stating that soybean meal is losing market share, mainly in the poultry feed market, to DDGS (distillers dried grains with solubles), he said the production DDGS is on the rise owing to increasing production of ethanol in the country.
