MUMBAI: China has bought 52,000 tons of Indian rapeseed meal in the past three weeks - four times the amount Beijing imported from India in the whole of 2024 – after Chinese authorities imposed a 100% retaliatory tariff on Canadian imports, industry sources said.
India’s rapeseed meal exports will help China, the world’s top consumer, replace imports from Canada while easing pressure on local rapeseed prices in India, which is sitting on large stockpiles of the widely used animal feed.
“Chinese buyers started showing interest in Indian rapeseed meal in the last few weeks due to tariffs on Canadian supplies,” said an official with a leading rapeseed meal exporter. China imposed a 100% retaliatory tariff on rapeseed meal and oil imports from Canada starting on March 20.
China bought Indian rapeseed meal for prompt shipments at $220 to $235 per metric ton, on a cost and freight basis, said the sources, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to media.
India, the world’s third-largest rapeseed producer, has struggled to export significant amounts of rapeseed meal to China because of higher prices.
In 2024, China imported 2.02 million metric tons of rapeseed meal from Canada, 504,000 tons from the United Arab Emirates, and 135,000 tons from Russia, according to customs data. It bought only 13,100 tons from India.
India exported more than 2 million tons of rapeseed meal, but China accounted for less than 1%.
“Chinese demand is huge. If its current buying momentum continues in the next few months, it could emerge as one of the biggest buyers of Indian rapeseed meal,” said one of the sources.
South Korea, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam traditionally account for the bulk of India’s rapeseed meal exports.
“India can raise shipments from around 2 million tons to 2.5 million tons this year, given the surplus in India and shortage in the world market,” said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA).
India’s rapeseed meal stocks are expected to rise as new season supplies begin to pick up.
Weak local demand has pushed Indian rapeseed meal prices to around $200 per ton on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, down from $248 in February and $278 a year ago, according to SEA data.
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