NEW DELHI, INDIA — An erratic monsoon in key growing regions has led to a reduced forecast for India’s soybean production in the 2022-23 marketing year, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA projects a soybean crop of 11.4 million tonnes, 500,000 tonnes lower than the previous year and 100,000 tonnes below its August projection.

The report noted that India’s soybean planted area is unchanged from year-to-year and month-to-month at 12.7 million hectares.

The USDA said India’s soybean meal export estimate for 2021-22 is raised to 1.2 million tonnes, “accounting for reduced and late domestic soybean arrivals for crushing in the latter half of the market year and strong export demand due to relatively high global prices.”

Nepal, the United States and France are the top markets for Indian soybean meal.