The government yesterday banned the exports of soybean meal in order to rein in the spiralling prices of the key ingredients of poultry and cattle feed and protect consumers from paying more for animal protein.

In a notification, the commerce ministry said the shipment of soybean meal would be stopped from October 14.

But exporters could ship the feed ingredient until October 20 against the settlement of letters of credit or telegraphic transfers until October 13, it said.

The move comes in the face of demands from feed millers, poultry industry operators, and dairy farmers as prices of the soybean cake shot up 41 per cent year-on-year to Tk 53-55 per kilogram in August after India allowed imports to meet its domestic shortage of soybean meal.

Soybean meal accounts for 25-35 per cent of animal feed.

Earlier this month, the fisheries and livestock ministry said the production at feed mills was hampered by the reduced supply of soybean meal. As such, the prices of fish, meat and eggs are increasing.

If this continues, the production will be affected, the market will be unstable, and many firms will go out of business, it said.

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the price of broiler chicken rose by 22 per cent to Tk 175 per kg in Dhaka in the last one month.

Bangladesh requires 20 lakh tonnes of soybean meal, and 80 per cent of the ingredient come from local seed crushing mills that import soybean seeds to cater to both edible oil and feed industries.