MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - India's soymeal exports to Iran could jump 60 percent to 800,000 tonnes in 2012/13 from 2011/12, as demand in the sanctions-hit country is robust and payment through a mechanism using the rupee is working well, India's top soymeal exporter said.
Ruchi Soya RCSY.NS Managing Director Dinesh Shahra also said India's total exports of soymeal, used for animal feed, are likely to rise more than 11 percent to 5 million tonnes in the marketing year starting on Oct. 1.
"Iran will be a big buyer of Indian soymeal even next year. There is good demand," Shahra said on the sidelines of the Globoil Conference.
India is trying to pay for part of its oil imports from Iran, one of its biggest suppliers, in the rupee, which is not freely traded on international markets, as western sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear programme have cut its payment options.
The south Asian country’s soymeal exports to Iran have surged almost three-fold on the year to 456,133 tonnes for the April-August period, data from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India showed.
India, one of Iran's biggest customers, has won a waiver from U.S. sanctions targeting financial institutions by cutting its oil imports along with Tehran's other major Asian clients China, Japan and South Korea.
But its energy-guzzling economy still relies heavily on Iranian oil. In January, the two sides agreed to settle 45 percent of the billion dollar import bill in rupees, which could then be used by Tehran to pay for imports from India.
Food is exempted from the sanctions on Iran.
Ruchi Soya is likely to export 1.8 million tonnes of soymeal in 2012/13 against 1.5 million tonnes this year as there is likely to be a bigger crop due to farmers planting over a higher acreage, Shahra said.
"This year we crushed 2.1 million tonnes soybean. We are aiming to crush 2.5 million tonnes next year," he said.
Indian farmers usually cultivate soybean from June onwards and supplies from the crop starting arriving in markets from October.
EDIBLE OILS
Despite good production of soybean, the south Asian country’s edible oil imports in the 2012/13 year starting from November are likely to rise 5.1 percent to 10.3 million tonnes due to lower output of groundnut and cotton seeds, he said.
The entire incremental growth in edible oil imports will be met through palm oil as its discount over soyoil has widened to $300 per tonne on the back of higher palm oil inventory in Malaysia and Indonesia.
"Premium of soyoil over palmoil will stay around $250-300 per tonne at least until the end of 2012. Stocks are at record high levels in Malaysia and Indonesia," he said.
Combined stocks in Indonesia and Malaysia at the end of 2012 may stand at 4.5 million tonnes and could pull down palm oil prices to 2,500 ringgit per tonne, he said.
On Friday, benchmark palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed at 2,763 ringgit ($905) per tonne after hitting an 11-month low of 2,755 ringgit earlier in the day.
