Spoon full of Castor beans

ICOA Newsletter – September 12, 2022

By: Haresh Vyas, Royal Castor Products Ltd.

Castor scene:

The major castor growing region of Gujarat and Rajasthan have been receiving insistent rains since July and have received more than 100% seasonal rain with still one month of rainy season left. On the sowing front the news is encouraging as in most places more than 88 % sowing has been done as compared to total of last year, with marginal damage to the sowed crop due to water logging. The forecast in the coming days is good for sowing and the sowing activity will continue until the middle of September.

On the vegetable oil front the world is going to face very challenging times due to drought in China, Europe, USA etc. On the other side will be inflation and sluggish demand, difficult path to tread for the industry.

Castor oil supply chain from India will face some strong head winds in the coming 4-5 months as castor seed supply and stocks are dwindling fast despite sluggish demand. Not predicting the prices but the situation will be grim if demand picks up, which is likely to pick up as people have been waiting mode for long time. To date this year the demand for castor oil and derivatives has dropped by nearly 15% compared to last year.

Here are the latest export and sowing numbers.

Sowing 5th Sept 2022                          Same Period Last year                                   Total Last Year.
783’ 000 Ha.                                                 587000 Ha                                                      809’000. Ha
Exports till August 2022                        Same Period last year                                    Total Last Year.   
429819 MT (approx.)                                    503420 MT                                                   689656 MT.   

Thanks.

Haresh Vyas

Royal Castor Products Ltd.

ho@royalcastor.in