Soybean Market

Soybean holds a very important position in the Indian agriculture and economy and it has a worth of over Rs 5000 crores As mentioned above, it stands at the 5th position in the list of the leading soybean producing countries with a production figure of around 7 million tons. Madhya Pradesh has the lead among the soybean producing states in India. Regarding consumption of soybean in India, it holds the 6th position in the leading consuming countries.

Of the total production of soybean in India, 10-12 percent  of it is directly consumed and the rest is crushed to derive soy meal and soy oil. Indian soy meal is considered to be one of the premium soy meals and European and Asian countries prefer to use it other than any soy meal. India export approximately 65 percent  of the total soy meal produced and has turned out to be one of the largest exporter of soy meal usually to the Asian countries. The soy meal is exported to the following countries:

• South Korea
• Thailand
• Philippines
• Japan

Though soy meal is not imported to satisfy the growing domestic demand, but this is not in the case of soy oil. A large share of soy oil consumed in India is imported from Argentina, Brazil and US. In fact, soy oil is not permitted to export in bulk. About 1.5 million tons of soy oil is imported which makes the availability of oil in the country at 2.5 million tons. Moreover the rate of imports is still at a rising level.

The prices of soybean in the Indian market are highly volatile because they depend on the prices of the international market. As reference markets, the markets at Indore and Mumbai are looked upon. Soyabean is traded in India in the cities as given below:

• Indore
• Ujjain
• Dewas
• Mandsore
• Astha
• Nagpur
• Sangli
• Kota

Soybean Price Live

CBOT - ECBOT - Soy Beans Price Live as on 11, Jul 2018

NCDEX - Soy Seed Price Live as on 11, Jul 2018

Domestic Market Recap 

Soybean continued to trade sluggish at major markets in the country during the week due to weak demand from crushers amid poor sales in soybean meal and weak tone in soy oil.

Spot soybean dropped by Rs 50 to Rs 3,350-3,550/100kg at the benchmark Indore market of Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, refined soy oil extended losses by Rs 5 to Rs 745/10kg. Soybean meal prices were however steady at Rs 29,500 per tonne.

According to industry body higher import of soy oil from overseas has hurt domestic industry and thus government should increase import duty in a bid to curb import to provide better returns to farmers so they can cultivate more soybean.

There were reports that government is considering to raise import duty on soft oils (soy, sun and canola), but no official announcement has been made by the government so far.

Soybean meal export during the month of May dropped 39 percent to 41,452 tonnes versus 68,264 tonnes a month ago, according to Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA). Soybean meal export during the April-May also fell by 36 percent to 91,957 tonnes as against 143,699 tonnes same period last year, said SEA.

Indian soybean meal CNF Rotterdam tentatively priced at USD 458 per tonne versus USD 415 to Argentine origin. Indian soybean meal is in disparity of USD 43 per tonne and less attractive for overseas buyers.

Domestic demand for soybean meal is normal, but not as strong as required to support soybean, said a trader from Indore. Further market sentiment is weak due to better acreage prospects this season, he added. As per the latest Agriculture Ministry data, the area under soybean was at 0.17 lakh hectare, up from 0.13 lakh hectare during the same period a year ago.

Good monsoon forecast has also hurt market sentiments, he noted.

On futures, the most-active July soybean contract during the week fell by Rs 65 to Rs 3,509/100kg on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX).