Vegetable oil imports jump 51% in September: Surge in crude palm oil drives growth; refined shipments fall to zero – The Times of India
India’s vegetable oil imports rose sharply by 51% in September to 16.39 lakh tonnes, boosted by higher crude palm oil (CPO) shipments, even as refined oil imports fell to zero for the first time since 2021, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said on Wednesday.Total vegetable oil imports — including both edible and non-edible oils — stood at 10.87 lakh tonnes in September 2023, the association said in a statement, PTI reported.The spike in crude imports and drop in refined oils followed the government’s decision to widen the import duty gap between crude palm oil and refined RBD palmolein to 19.25 percentage points from 8.25 percentage points, effective May 31, making refined oil imports unviable.“The government’s decision to increase the duty difference is a bold and timely move,” the SEA said, adding that the policy change had discouraged refined palmolein imports while revitalising domestic refining capacity by shifting demand toward crude oils.Imports of refined RBD palmolein were nil in September, compared with 84,279 tonnes a year earlier, the SEA said.During the month, India imported 16.04 lakh tonnes of edible oils and 35,100 tonnes of non-edible oils, the data showed.Crude palm oil imports nearly doubled to 8.24 lakh tonnes, up from 4.32 lakh tonnes a year ago, while crude sunflower oil shipments climbed to 2.72 lakh tonnes from 1.52 lakh tonnes. Crude soybean oil imports also rose to 5.03 lakh tonnes from 3.84 lakh tonnes, though crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) shipments declined to 4,255 tonnes from 10,525 tonnes.As of October 1, edible oil stocks at Indian ports stood at 20 lakh tonnes, higher than the previous month, reflecting a steady build-up in imports over the past four months, the association noted.India, the world’s largest importer of edible oils, sources palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil and Russia, and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine, the SEA said.
