Govt extends stock limits on edible oils, oilseeds till December

The government on Thursday extended stock limits on edible oils and oilseeds till December this year in order to check the soaring prices of

the commodities due to the current global geopolitical situation.

The order in this regard will come into effect from April 1, an official statement said.

In October 2021, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs had imposed stock limits till March 2022, and left the decision to states to decide whether the stock limits should be based on the availability and consumption pattern.

According to the fresh order, the stock limit for edible oils will be 30 quintals for retailers, 500 quintals for wholesalers, 30 quintals for retail outlets of bulk consumers i.e. big chain retailers and shops and 1,000 quintals for its depots. Processors of edible oils can stock up to 90 days of their storage/production capacities.

For oilseeds, the stock limit will be 100 quintals for retailers and 2,000 quintals for wholesalers. Processors of oilseeds will be allowed to stock 90 days' production of edible oils as per daily input production capacity.

Exporters and importers have been kept outside the purview of this order with some caveats.

"The above measure is expected to curtail any unfair practices like hoarding, black marketing, etc. in the market, and would help in controlling the prices of edible oils and also ensuring that maximum benefit of the duty reduction is passed on to the end consumers," the statement said.

Six states -- Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Bihar -- which had issued their own control order in pursuance of the central government's order have also been brought under the purview of the latest order.

"The above decision was taken after deliberations at the highest level on the upward price trends of all edible oils owing to the current geopolitical situations across the globe," the statement said.

The government said the pressure on sunflower oil supplies from Ukraine has had a rub off effect on the export policy of Indonesia, affecting palm oil imports.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is likely to put pressure on the overall supplies of edible oils, especially sunflower oil.

Also, crop loss concerns in south America has impacted soybean oil supplies due to which the international prices have shown a large upward trend, it said.

International soyabean oil prices have increased by 5.05 per cent over the month and by 42.22 per cent over the year. Global palm oils prices (both crude and refined), which had showed a substantial increasing trend from January, have decreased over the week and over the month, it added.