With edible oil imports increasing by 22.7 per cent in the first four months of the current oil marketing year, India’s total edible oil imports are expected to be around 1.25 crore tonnes due to lower production estimates, an expert said here on Thursday.
Edible oil imports in the first four months of the current oil marketing year, from November 2014 to February 2015, rose by 22.7 per cent from 34.2 lakh tonnes to 41.9 lakh tonnes, data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEAI) shows.
Production of nine oilseeds during 2014-15 is estimated at 2.98 crore tonnes according to the second advance estimates of the Government of India. This shows a drop of around 9.7 per cent compared to 3.27 crore tonnes of production during 2013-14, according to final official estimates. These oilseeds include groundnut, castorseed, sesamum, nigerseed, rapeseed, linseed, safflower, sunflower, and soybean.
Raju Choksi, Vice-President (Agri Commodities), Anil Nutrients Ltd, a part of the Anil Group of companies, said the production estimates of nine oilseeds were lower as compared to first advance estimates due to untimely rains in a few growing regions as well as lower yields due to scarce rainfall in some other parts. The import volume is likely to grow by more than 7 per cent due to a significant rise in imports of soyabean and sunflower oils.
He said imports are growing despite a shrinking edible oil import basket. “India has completely stopped imports of cottonseed oil since the last five years due to abundant cotton supply. Import of other edible oils such as safflower and coconut oil has also fallen to nil since the last couple of years.
Despite lower production estimates, domestic prices of edible oils, excluding groundnut, have fallen drastically in the last few months owing to a drop in the price of these oils in the global market. “International prices of these oils have fallen as there is abundant supply from markets such as Brazil, Argentina, the US, Indonesia and Malaysia,” he added.