Edible oil imports to dip 8% on higher output

Imports of edible oil are expected to decline by about 8 per cent this year on higher domestic oilseed production. India consumes about 11-12 million tonne of oil per year.

Last year, India imported 5.7 million tonne of edible oil as domestic supply was just about 4.5 million tonne from kharif oilseeds and 3 million tonne from rabi oilseeds.

Oilseed production is expected to grow by over 8 per cent this marketing year (November - October) to 133.7 lakh tonne in 2005-06 from 123.6 lakh tonne in 2004-05.

Taking into account other sources of oil such as cottonseed, copra, rice bran, various oilcakes, etc, the total oil produce from domestic sources is expected to increase by 7 per cent to 48.5 lakh tonne this year from 45.3 lakh tonne in 2004-05.

Of the total oilseed production, groundnut oil could increase around 14.5 per cent to 51 lakh tonne this year from 44.5 lakh tonne last year owing to increased output in Gujarat (33 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (31.5 per cent).

Oil availability for domestic purposes from groundnut is expected to remain around 7.9 lakh tonne, 18 per cent higher than last year. Soyabean production is also estimated to increase by around 5 per cent this season to 61.6 lakh tonne from 58.5 lakh tonne last year. The current rise is mainly attributed to higher production from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

However, production may decline marginally in Madhya Pradesh, the largest soyabean producing state in the country. Consequently, the surplus would increase by around 6 per cent. Availability of soyabean oil will be higher by approximately 6 per cent this year at 9.2 lakh tonne.

The production of castor seed is also estimated to increase this year by around 8.8 per cent to 8.7 lakh tonne mainly because of substantial increase in expected production in Rajasthan. Production in Gujarat - the largest castor seed producer in the country - is projected to stay at the last year's level of 4.8 lakh tonne.

Since, the entire crop is marketed, the surplus may spike up by 8.8 per cent. Castor oil availability may increase by around 12 per cent to 3.7 lakh tonne this marketing year.

In contrast, sesame seeds will see a marginal decline in production from almost all major producing states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, resulting in an overall decline of 11 per cent in total production.