Vegetable oils import increased by nearly 19% to 6.64 lakh tonne in May against 5.58 lakh tonne in the same month last year, according to latest industry data.
However, the vegetable oils imports during November 2010 to May 2011 declined by 12% to 42.67 lakh tonne compared to 48.49 lakh tonne in the corresponding period of 2009-10 oil year (November-October), according to the Solvent Extractor's Association (SEA) data.
The overall import of edible oils has decreased due to record production of oilseeds, which resulted in higher output of domestic cooking oils, SEA said in a statement.
India is estimated to have harvested a record 30.25 million tonnes of oilseeds in 2010-11 crop year (July-June). The current stock of edible oils as of June 1, 2011 at various ports is estimated at 4.7 lakh tonne and about 8.75 lakh tonne in pipelines.
"Total stock, both at ports and in pipelines, is estimated at 13.45 lakh tonnes as compared to 12.75 lakh tonnes as of May 1, 2011," SEA said.
India imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyabean oil from Argentina and Brazil.
At present, there is zero duty on imports of crude edible oil, while refined edible oils attract 7.5% duty. The country had imported a record 9.2 million tonne of vegetable oils in 2009-10 oil year to meet domestic demand of 14-15 million tonne.