India’s exports of oilmeals dropped by 27 per cent in November from October due to a decline in shipments of major oilmeals such as soybean meal, rapeseed meal, and castorseed meal.
Data compiled by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) showed that India exported 2.70 lakh tonnes (lt) of oilmeals during November 2025 as against 3.71 lt in October 2025.
India exported 1.13 lt of soybean meal in November (1.80 lt in October), followed by 1.09 lt of rapeseed meal (1.45 lt), and 22,496 tonnes of castorseed meal (27,589 tonnes).
Total exports of oilmeals from India stood at 3.63 lt in November 2024.
The overall export of oilmeals stood at 27.34 lt during April-November 2025-26 against 27.51 lt in the same period of 2024-25, registering a marginal decline of 0.62 per cent.
BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA, said the Government has lifted the ban on export of de-oiled ricebran with effect from October 3. Following this, India exported 38,257 tonnes of de-oiled ricebran to Vietnam and Nepal during October and November of 2025-26.
The China factor
India exported 13.62 lt of rapeseed meal during the first eight months of 2025-26 against 13.21 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Mehta said the strong demand from China boosted the export of rapeseed meal during the period. China imported 6.44 lt of rapeseed meal during April-November 2025-26 when compared to 25,624 tonnes during the same period of 2024-25.
Being fag end of the season, the domestic crushing of rapeseed has reduced, and the availability of rapeseed meal also reduced. This resulted in the slowdown of exports of rapeseed meal.
He said a few additional companies have been approved or their application are under process by GACC, China, through Export Inspection Council of India (EIC) for export of rapeseed meal to China. At present, Indian rapeseed meal prices are quoted at FOB $217 a tonne, compared with rapeseed meal in Hamburg (ex-mill) at $216 a tonne.
Soybean meal up
He said the exports of soybean meal increased during October and November due to a strong demand from France and Germany. Soybean meal manufacturers have been facing weak demand from domestic livestock feed makers since last two years, as they are showing preference towards the cheaper distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a by-products of ethanol production from grains such as corn and rice, he said.
Major importers
India exported 2.65 lt of oilmeals to South Korea during April-November 2025-26 (5.05 lt in April-November 2024-25). This included 1.32 lt of rapeseed meal, 99,252 tonnes of castorseed meal, and 34,071 tonnes of soybean meal.
China imported 6.51 lt of oilmeals from India during April-November 2025-26 (25,624 tonnes). This included 6.44 lt of rapeseed meal and 7,029 tonnes of castorseed meal.
India exported 3.05 lt of oilmeals to Bangladesh during April-November 2025-26 (4.70 lt). This included 2.01 lt of rapeseed meal and 1.04 lt of soybean meal.
Germany and France imported 1.73 lt and 1.09 lt of soybean meal, respectively, from India during April-November 2025-26.