Traders said about 40,000 tonnes of soymeal had been shipped for export. Exports are delayed this year due to late harvesting. Soymeal for November shipment FAS Kandla Port was quoted at $160-$162 a tonne, slightly lower than last week.

Tokyo traders said prices for Indian soymeal, the cheapest at present, were drifting lower for shipments after November 15, though little quantity was available for December, they said. "Indian soymeal prices are coming down. So we don't need Chinese meal anymore," said the first trader.

Traders said Japan bought four to six small vessels of Indian soymeal for prices above $186 per tonne C&F Japanese ports about 10 days ago. They were interested in buying more although they were reluctant to pay more than $180, they said.

Some traders said Japan, which started to import a large quantity of soymeal from India last year, might turn more to the Asian supplier free of GMO products as its consumers had grown more concerned about the products.

Indian traders said the quality of soybeans had improved from about a month ago when rains had increased moisture levels. The moisture content of soybean had fallen to nine to 13 per cent from about 12 to 15 per cent in the previous week, traders said. A high moisture content in the crop about two years ago handled to a few Southeast Asian buyers rejecting some consignments of Indian soymeal. "Shipment activity may increase in coming days as soymeal production has increased due to a pickup in soybean processing," a leading broker said.

Soybean crop arrivals rose to about 30,000 tonnes per day in the central Indian markets compared to about 10,000 tonnes a day in the previous week. "Soybean prices may further decrease as arrivals have started in big way while buying from processing plants is limited," said broker Rajesh Ajmera.