Source: Oleoscope (Russia)
India is expecting a bumper soybean crop for the 2024-25 marketing year due to favorable monsoon and normal weather conditions, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said in a report, as reported by World Grain.
The FAS raised its forecast for the country’s soybean production to 12.8 million tons, 100,000 tons more than last year’s record high.
“An early monsoon supported soybean planting, increasing the area planted by nearly 1% in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24,” the FAS said, adding that yields will also be slightly higher than last year’s 0.98 tons per hectare.
The report also notes that soybean processing volumes continue to rise. Processing volumes increased by 12% year-on-year to 12.6 million tons in 2023-24 and are expected to rise to 12.7 million tons this year, driven by strong export demand for soybean meal.
The FAS also revised its forecast for soybean meal production in India by 6% year-on-year to 9.36 million tons.
Soybean oil production was revised significantly upward from the FAS forecast earlier this year, rising 11% to 2.2 million tons from 1.98 million tons, “as strong domestic demand for vegetable oil is expected to increase feedstock availability for crushed oil.”
In anticipation of lower global soybean oil prices, the FAS raised its import forecast to 3.7 million tons, up 21% from 2023-24.
Previously, the FAS had noted that China will increase the processing of oilseeds and soybeans in particular due to increased demand for animal feed. The total volume of oilseeds to be processed in the country is estimated at 137.3 million tons. The processing of soybeans is estimated at 99 million tons.