Vegetable oil imports increased 23 per cent in March to 896,714 tonnes against 727,706 tonnes recorded in the same period last year on the back of drop in prices and good demand, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association data.
Between November and March (oil year), the import was up 22 per cent at 4,631,977 tonnes (3,789,629 tonnes).
In March, RBD palmolein prices fell to $848 a tonne against $870 in February. Prices of crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower oil remained near the February level. However, rupee depreciated two per cent against dollar to 54.82 from 53.81 in February, partially offsetting the drop in prices.
Import of non-edible oil such as Palm Fatty Acid Distillate, Crude Palm Kernel Oil and RBD Palm Sterin has been increasing steadily in the last five months due to industrial demand.
In March, non-edible oil imports jumped 81 per cent to 45,808 tonnes (25,371 tonnes) while in last five months it had risen 60 per cent to 134,541 tonnes (83,890 tonnes).
The stock of edible oil at various ports is estimated at 850,000 tonnes as on April 1. Total inventory including the shipments in transit and ports has touched to 2,100,000 tonnes. The inventory is equivalent to about 45 days of the country’s consumption.
The stock lying at various ports include 600,000 tonnes of CPO, 110,000 tonnes of RBD palmolein, 50,000 tonnes of degummed soyabean oil and 90,000 tonnes of crude sunflower oil and about 1,250,000 tonnes of oil is in pipelines due to excessive import in last four months.
Import of RBD palmolein increased 18 per cent to 137,407 tonnes in March against 116,237 tonnes in February
In the last five months, palm oil import moved up 29 per cent to 3,812,097 tonnes (2,946,736 tonnes). However, import of soft oil such as soyabean, sunflower and rapeseed reduced 10 per cent to 685,339 tonnes (759,003 tonnes).