Commerce minister Anand Sharma on Friday made a case for enhancing exports of iron ore pellets to further reduce the country’s current account deficit. “You (industry) have to build the capacities. That is where investments have to come in. Once you have more capacities, you will export (more),” he said in New Delhi. The minister said export of iron ore pellets accounts for only 1.25% of the total installed capacity of India. “So we are encouraging (export),” he added.
Soyameal exports decrease by 68% in February
Soyameal exports fell by 68% to 1.83 lakh tonne last month because of lower supply of soyabean for crushing operations, according to trade data. “Exports of soyabean meal during February 2014 were 1.83 lakh tonne as compared to 5.77 lakh tonne in February 2013, showing a decrease of 68.28% over the same period of last year,” Soyabean Processors Association (SOPA) said in a statement. “This decline in export is primarily because of lower arrival of soyabean resulting the lower crushing,” it added. During the October-February period of the current oil year, exports dipped by 24% to 17.32 lakh tonne as against 22.77 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.
