Total edible oil imports up by 7.2 per cent in four months

Import of edible oil increased by 7.20 per cent in the first four months of the oil year 2021-22. Though there was growth in the import of soft oils, import of palm oil witnessed a decline during the period. (Oil year ranges from November to October.)

According to the data available with the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India, the country imported 4.59 million tonnes (mt) of edible oil during November-February of oil year 2021-22 as against 4.28 mt during the corresponding period of oil year 2020-21.

Of this, the share of palm oil (which includes RBD palmolein and crude palm oil) decreased to 2.11 mt during November-February of the oil year 2021-22 against 2.56 mt in the corresponding period of 2020-21.

Import of soft oils went up to 2.47 mt during the first four months of the oil year 2021-22 against 1.71 mt in the corresponding period of 2020-21.

With this, the share of palm oil in the total edible oil imports declined to 46 per cent and that of soft oils went up to 54 per cent during the first four months of the oil year 2021-22. This share was at 60 per cent for palm oil and 40 per cent for soft oils during November-February of the oil year 2020-21.

Soft oils

BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said the increase in the share of soft oils is mainly because of the higher import of soyabean oil during the oil year 2021-22.

India imported 16.34 lakh tonnes (lt) of soyabean oil during November-February of 2021-22 as against 9.48 lt in the corresponding period of 2020-21, an increase of 72.36 per cent. India mainly imported 10.91 lt of crude soyabean degummed oil from Argentina and 3.4 lt from Brazil. This was followed by the import of 79,576 tonnes of crude soyabean degummed oil from the US, and 61,126 tonnes from Turkey.

The average CIF import price of crude soyabean oil stood at $1,595 a tonne during February as against $1,506 a tonne in January.

Palm oil

In the case of palm oils, import of crude palm oil (CPO) declined to 1.56 mt (2.48 mt) and of RBD palmolein increased to 5.19 mt (21,601 tonnes) during the first four months of the oil year.

Mehta said the import of RBD palmolein jumped at the cost of reduction of import duty on CPO.

On the pleas made by SEA of India for larger duty difference between CPO and refined palm oil, the Union Finance Ministry reduced the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on imports of CPO to 5 per cent from the prevailing 7.5 per cent, he said, adding, this helped increase the duty differential between CPO and RBD palmolein to 8.25 per cent from earlier 5.5 per cent. “This provided a minor relief to the beleaguered refining industry, but not enough,” he said.

Indonesia and Malaysia were the major suppliers of palm oil to India. During November-Febraury 2021-22, Malaysia exported 10.49 lt of CPO and 1.90 lt of RBD palmolein to India. This was followed by Indonesia at 4.41 lt of CPO and 3.29 lt of RBD palmolein.

The March 9 announcement of the Indonesian government to increase the limit of domestic sale of palm oil from 20 per cent to 30 per cent will further reduce the Indonesian export volume and tighten the global export supplies, he said.

The average CIF import price of CPO stood at $1,594 a tonne during February as against $1,510 a tonne in January; and the average CIF import price of RBD palmolein stood at $1,581 a tonne during February as against $1,490 a tonne in January.

Stock position

As on March 1, the stock of edible oils at various ports was estimated at 4.90 lt and pipeline stock at 1.38 mt. According to the SEA data, the total stock has marginally increased by 8,000 tonnes to 1.87 mt as on March 1 from 1.86 mt as on February 1.

Overall veg oil imports

The overall import of vegetable oils (including both edible and non-edible) increased to 4.69 mt during the first four months of the oil year 2021-22 as against 4.39 mt in the corresponding period of the oil year 2020-21, recording a growth of 7 per cent.

PFAD (palm fatty acid distillate) and palm stearin are the major non-edible oils being imported by the soap and oleo-chemical industries in the country. India imported 99,938 tonnes of non-edible oils during November-Febraury of 2021-22 as against 1.12 lt in the corresponding period of the previous oil year.