Palmoil, soyoil import tariff value increased

The government yesterday raised the import tariff value, the base price at which import duty is levied, on palmoils by $11 a tonne and crude soyoil by $23 a tonne.

According to market players this increase was in sync with the rising international prices.

"Internationally, soyoil prices have risen by about 3-4 per cent last fortnight as the bird flu scare over 18 countries affected the meal demand," said a Mumbai based analyst.

In case of palm oil prices, though the last fortnight has not seen any upward spiral, tariffs have been raised to keep landed cost of both palm oils and soyoil in tandem, the analyst added.

Further, this increase may help converge prices of imported oils and domestically produced ones. At present, imported oils are selling at Rs 3-4 per 10 kg, cheaper than the locally produced oils.

The imposition of additional advolerm duty of 4 per cent in the Union Budget presented in the Parliament yesterday is expected to do away with this anomaly.

The government sets the tariff value on palm and crude soybean oils. Import base price is the rate at which tariff duty is imposed by the government in a bid to check the practice of under-invoicing.

Tariff value changes, basically were to be administered in tandem with a minimum 10 per cent change in international prices but the government, for last four months now, has been changed on a fortnightly basis.