Edible oil imports dip

The total imports of edible oil declined by 14 per cent in April this year to 3,06,245 tonnes as compared with 3,54,284 tonnes in the same month last year, according to data compiled by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India.

The edible oil imports also witnessed a marginal decline of 5 per cent to 1,707,316 tonnes during the first half of the current oil year Nov - Oct as against 1,801,441 tonnes in the same period last year.

The non-edible oil imports too declined marginally by 1.5 per cent during the first six months of the current oil year at 291,798 tonnes, compared with 296,099 tonnes in the corresponding period.

The decline in oil imports was largely attributed to better local crushing and supply during Nov'06 - Jan'07, thanks to rape-mustard sold by National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and better availability of cotton and ricebran oil during this period.

The market sources also attribute the fall in imports to a reduction in stocks by about 2.5 lakh tonnes compared with last year, lesser arrivals of soybean oil vessels during April-May due to late extension of exemption to the import of GM soybean oil and the high price of edible oil affecting consumption.

The price of RBD palmolein in the international market surged to $810 cif from $552 in November last year. Similarly, the prices of crude palm oil and degummed soybean oil went up to $770 and $777 from $525 and $684 respectively.

The import of refined oil was at 40,050 tonnes (2 per cent of the total imports) during Nov - Apr, while crude oil imports were reported at 1,667,266 tonnes (98 per cent).

The import of palm oil products (CPO, RBD palmolein, crude palmolein and crude palm kernel oil) during the first half of the current oil year was reported at 1,340,531 (1,022,985) tonnes, while that of soft oil was 366,785 (778,456) tonnes. The share of palm oil import has gone up to 79 per cent compared with 57 per cent during the same period last year.

The import of non-edible oil during April 2007 was reported at 49,918 tonnes compared with 40,578 tonnes in April 2006. The total import of non-edible oil during Nov - Apr is reported at 291,798 tonnes compared with 296,099 tonnes last year.