China may end 6-year ban on Indian oilmeal

China is set to lift its nearly six-year-old ban on import of oilmeal from India, to bridge its deficit after supply from the US reduced under the ongoing trade war between the two leading world economies.

Industry sources said China’s inter-ministerial General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has already taken a decision in this regard.

“The US- China trade dispute is forcing the latter to look to other origins for soybean and oilmeal. We understand from the ministry of commerce/Export Inspection Council that China will lift the ban very soon for import of rapeseed meal from India,” said B V Mehta, executive director, the Solvent Extractors’ Association.

The AQSIQ would, once the ban gets lifted, visit Indian units for inspection and approval. Industry sources say Chinese companies are interested in import of rapeseed meal through six-odd approved Indian exporters, including Adani Wilmar and Ambuja Exports.

Prior to the ban in 2012, China annually imported 350,000 to 400,000 tonnes of rapeseed meal and 100,000tonnes of soybean meal from India.

Economic sanctions on Iran, political turbulence in West Asia and slow economic growth in Europe had lately reduced global demand for oilmeal. India’s export was down 73 per cent to 81,511 tonnes this September, from 298,182 tonnes in the same months of last year. However, in the April-September period, first six months of this financial year, these had risen nine per cent to 1.4 million tonnes, from 1.28 mt for the corresponding period last year. Export of rapeseed meal was almost doubled in these six months, to 601,105 tonnes from 300,627 tonnes in AprilSeptember 2017, mainly to South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.