MUMBAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - India's January soymeal exports jumped 484% year on year to 336,390 tonnes as a rally in global prices to their highest in 6-1/2 years made shipments from the country lucrative for European and Asian buyers, a trade body said.
Higher exports from India could trim shipments of South American soymeal into Asia and support local soybean prices NSBc1 despite a bird flu outbreak hitting demand from the local feed industry.
France, Germany, Indonesia and Bangladesh were among key buyers driving robust demand for Indian soymeal in January, the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
India's soymeal exports more than tripled to 950,134 tonnes in the first four months of the 2020/21 marketing year that started on Oct. 1, it said.
U.S. soymeal futures SMc1 hit a 6-1/2 year high in January on tightening supplies and robust demand from China.
India's soymeal exports could jump to more than 2 million tonnes in the 2020/21, from 825,000 tonnes shipped the previous year, industry officials estimate.