Edible oil imports fall 17% since November
Imports of edible oils – palm, soybean and sunflower — declined by 17% on year to 5.76 million tonne (MT) in the November -March 2023-24, as elevated palm oil prices impacted shipments.
November-October season is regarded as oil year, given seasonal nature of the crops.
The high base of last year and an incipient spurt in global prices of the oils are the reason for the drop in imports on an annual basis.
The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said on Thursday as on April 1, total edible oils stock stood at 2.31 MT, a decline of 32% that of the year-ago period.
Terming palm oil as the ‘current price leader’, BV Mehta, executive director, SEA, said lower production and stock of palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia resulted in decline in supplies.
Out of the total import of edible oil in the 2023-24, palm oil imports was 3.52 MT, 20% decline from 4.39 MT of oil imported last year mostly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Imports of soybean and sunflower oil during November-March of 2023-24 oil year was 0.88 MT and 1.35 MT respectively.
Soybean oil was sourced from Argentina and Brazil, while sunflower oil was sourced from Russia and Ukraine.
Record quantity of sunflower oil was imported in the last two months at 0.29 MT in February and 0.44 MT in March. Overall, India imported 1.35 MT of sunflower oil during November-March 2023-24 against 1.11 MT in the corresponding period of the previous oil year.
Last month, the country imported 1.14 MT of edible oil both in crude and refined form, which is an increase of 1% on year.
Landed prices of crude palm oil (at Mumbai port), which hold a major chunk in the country’s import basket, rose by 1% to $1045 /tonne on April 5, compared to $1,035 a year ago. Import prices at Mumbai of crude soybean and sunflower oil have fallen by 2% and 6% respectively to $1025/tonne and $975/tonne respectively.
India’s import of edible oils – palm, soybean and sunflower – rose 17% on year to a record 16.47 MT in the 2022-23 oil year, helped by lower import tariffs of only 5.5% on crude oil imports.
India imports about 58% of the total annual edible oil consumption of around 24 to 25 MT. In terms of share in domestic output, the share of oils includes mustard (40%), soyabean (24%) and groundnut (7%), among others.
Earlier this year, the government last month had extended the lower import duty structure for palm, soybean and sunflower oils by a year till March 31, 2025, which the industry had stated would adversely impact processing and prices of domestic oilseeds.
Currently, crude palm, soybean and sunflower oil imports attract only a 5% agri infra cess and a 10% education cess, resulting in a total tax incidence of 5.5%.
Because of record imports, the domestic prices of edible oil varieties such as mustard and soybean have been impacted.
Mustard oil and refined oil prices dropped sharply by 18% and 21% respectively in February, 2024 on year while overall inflation in oils and fats category declined by 13.97%.
Source Link : https://www.financialexpress.com/business/industry-edible-oil-imports-fall-17-since-november-3454315/
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