Oil Meal Exports Decline by a Massive 42 Percent

19-Feb-2026 11:56 AM

Mumbai. Indian oil meal exports declined sharply by nearly 42 percent in January due to uncompetitive pricing and weak global demand. Shipments of two major oil meal sources—soybean DOC and rapeseed meal—declined by nearly 50 percent. Exports of other oil meal remained nearly normal.

Data compiled by the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SOAI) shows that India's oil meal exports fell from 4.52 lakh tons in January 2025 to 2.60 lakh tons in January 2026, a 42.5 percent decline. During the period under review, soybean meal exports declined from 2.86 lakh tons to 1.32 lakh tons, and mustard meal shipments fell from 1.31 lakh tons to 65,000 tons.

Due to continued weak performance, India's total oil meal exports during the first 10 months of the current financial year, from April 2025 to January 2026, reached only 3.235 million tons, a decrease of approximately 10 percent from the 3.603 million tons shipped during the same months of the 2024-25 financial year.

The association's executive director stated that mustard seed crushing has slowed recently, resulting in limited production of oil and meal. The arrival of the new mustard seed crop has now begun, and robust supply and crushing will begin in March.

This will increase exportable stocks of mustard seed meal, and shipments will return to normal. Domestic soybean prices remained strong in January, leading to higher export offer prices for soybean meal.