India exported a record 48.86 tonnes of oilmeal -- used as animal feed -- during the 2023-24 financial year on revival of shipments of soyabean meal, industry body SEA said on Thursday.

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In value terms also, the country's oilmeal exports were highest at Rs 15,368 crore during 2023-24 fiscal. The previous record was 43.81 lakh tonnes achieved in 2013-14 fiscal, while in value terms shipments stood at Rs 11,500 crore.

"This is the highest export of oilmeals since 2013-14 in terms of quantity and value," the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

The overall export of oilmeals during the April-March period of 2023-24 fiscal was highest at 48.86 lakh tonnes, up by 13 per cent from 43.36 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

The industry body said the export of soyabean meal revived during the year and reported at 21.33 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 fiscal, compared to 10.22 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 as Indian soybean meal was most competitive in the international market.

However, soyabean meal exports are likely to slow down in the coming months as Indian prices at present are ruling higher than that of Argentina, it said. The country's export of rapeseed meal remained stagnant at 22.13 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 compared to 22.97 lakh tonnes in the previous fiscal. The export of rapeseed meals have slowed down of late owing to growing competition from soya meal in the world market, it said.

The export of de-oiled ricebran declined sharply to 1.52 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 fiscal as against 5.95 lakh tonnes in the previous year because of the ban on the shipment since July 28, 2023.

As the ban is extended till July this year, the industry body said rice bran processors in eastern India are now confronted with the looming threat of shutting down their operations. "This not only adversely impacts the rice milling industry but also poses a risk to the overall production of rice bran oil," it added.

Among major importers of Indian oilmeal, Bangladesh topped with shipments of 8.92 lakh tonnes oilmeal, consisting of 4.34 lakh tonnes of rapeseed meal, 4.31 lakh tonnes of soybean meal and 0.28 lakh tonnes of de-oiled rice bran.

South Korea became the second largest importer of Indian oilmeals at 8.32 lakh tonnes, consisting of 5.47 lakh tonnes of rapeseed meal, 2.26 lakh tonnes of castorseed meal and 57,899 tonnes of soybean meal. Thailand was the third largest importer of Indian oilmeals at 6.33 lakh tonnes, out of which 6.16 lakh tonnes rapeseed meal.

Iran has turned out to be the largest importer of soybean meal from India (including shipments via Dubai) and imported a record quantity of 8.64 lakh tonnes during the financial year 2023-24.