No change in edible oil base import rate

India, the second-largest buyer of vegetable oils, didn't revise benchmark import prices of crude palm and soybean oil.

Crude palm oil price was unchanged at $447 a tonne and soybean oil price was unchanged at $580, the finance ministry said in an e-mailed statement. The benchmark, introduced to prevent traders from paying lower import duties by understating edible oil prices, are revised or maintained steady in line with international edible oil prices. The government has not changed the benchmark since August last year.

India's crude palm oil imports rose 24 per cent to 276,151 tonnes in August from a year ago, while purchases of crude soybean oil climbed 39 per cent to 159,324 tonnes in the month, after the government cut tariffs to encourage imports to meet demand.

NewsWire18 adds: The government had recently cut import duty on refined and crude palm oil and palmolein to keep domestic prices under check.

India is one of the largest edible oil importers in the world. It imports palm oil mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia.