Mustard crop is expected to be lower at five million tonnes (as of now) this year as compared to six million tonnes last year in the rabi season due to higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced for crops like pulses, a top KS Oils official said.
However, a clearer picture will emerge in the first week of August, the official said.
"As of now, we have observed that mustard crop is expected to be lower at five million tonnes as compared to last year during the rabi season due to higher Minimum Support Price announced for crops like pulses...," KS Oils' Managing Director, Sanjay Agarwal, said.
KS Oils is a leading integrated edible oil company with a deep understanding of the mustard oil sector. Presently, the company's' mustard seed crushing capacity is at 4,400 tonnes per day, solvent extraction at 4,200 tonnes and refinery at 1,600 tonnes per day.
The BSE-listed company has a market share of 11 per cent in the overall mustard oil segment with a dominant 25 per cent market leadership in the branded mustard oil segment. "Presently, we are growing 30 per cent and will continue to grow in the coming days," Agarwal said.
Currently, soya seeds' MSP is at Rs 1,840 per quintal, pulses at Rs 3,000 per quintal and mustard seed price at 1,830/100 kg.
Agarwal said area under coverage dropped 5-10 per cent this year from a million hectares last year. On edible oil, he said "edible oil prices are likely to come down 5-10 per cent due to duty free imports of crude palm oil."
Edible oil price is currently $800 per tonne and soya oil $860 per tonne. "Both edible and soya oil prices can move up and down 5-10 per cent this fiscal," he said.
KS Oils imported two lakh tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) and one lakh ton soya oil during the last fiscal at a total cost Rs 1,200 crore. "We will import little a higher this year as compared to last year," he said.
