Edible oil import down by 6% in 11 months

Reduction in the import of palm oil led to around 6 per cent decline in the import of edible oil during the first 11 months of the oil year 2023-24 (November-October).

According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), India imported 145.35 lakh tonnes (lt) of edible oil during the first 11 months of the oil year 2023-24 against 154.68 lt in the corresponding period of the previous oil year.

BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA, said the total import is likely to be around 160 lt for the oil year 2023-24 when compared to 165 lt during the oil year 2022-23.

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He said the higher shipments during July and August, and relatively slow demand during that period led to stock building at ports. In addition to that, higher volatility and firmness in prices took the price table higher in a short span of time. This made players a bit cautious, he said.

Reduction in import was led by palm, as palm oil was trading above soyabean oil and sunflower oil prices. So domestic players have reduced their buying in palm oil and are shifting to soft oils, he said.

There have been some washout/cancellations after the increase in import duty, and also some delays in the shipment as well for soft oils. These factors also resulted in the late arrivals of imported cargo, he said.

India imported 81.69 lt of palm oil (including RBD palmolein and crude palm oil) during the first 11 months of the oil year 2023-24 against 90.80 lt in the corresponding period of the oil year 2022-23, recording a decline of 10 per cent.

India’s total palm oil imports declined by 33.87 per cent in September 2024 when compared to August 2024. India imported 5.27 lt of palm oil in September against 7.97 lt in August.

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However, the import of soft oils remained more or less the same. India’s soft oil imports stood at 63.66 lt during the first 11 months of 2023-24 against 63.87 lt in the corresponding period of 2022-23. This included import of 30.98 lt (35.41 lt) of soyabean oil, and 32.67 lt (28.46 lt) of sunflower oil during the period.

The share of palm oil in the import basket decreased to 56 per cent during the current oil year from 59 per cent in the previous oil year.

Major exporters

During November-September of 2023-24, Indonesia exported 29.76 lt of crude palm oil and 14.26 lt of RBD palmolein to India. Malaysia exported 25.51 lt of crude palm oil and 2.63 lt of RBD palmolein to India during the period.

India imported 18.99 lt of crude soyabean degummed oil from Argentina and 9.08 lt from Brazil during the first 11 months of the oil year 2023-24.

During November-September of 2023-24, Russia exported 16.54 lt of crude sunflower oil to India. This was followed by Romania at 6.29 lt, Ukraine at 4.85 lt, and Argentina at 3.83 lt.