India's sunflower oil imports have reported a growth of 42 per cent at 1.49 million tonnes for the period of November 2011-12 from 739,173 tonnes reported in the same period last year, showed a latest data released by Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA).
During November 2011 to September 2012, the import of sunflower oil is reported at 1,049,181 tonnes compared to 739,173 tonnes during the same period of last year. The overall import of vegetable oils during November 2011 to September 2012 is reported at 9,156,457 tonnes compared to 7,773,184 tonnes, showing a growth of 17.80%, noted SEA in its report released on Monday.
The sharp growth in imports of sunflower oil is attributed to attractive prices compared to soybean oil. Sunflower oil is a major contributor in meeting demand for soft oils like soybean oil.
The import of soft oils showed sharp jump to 2.13 million tonnes as compared to 1.56 million tonnes last year, showing a growth of 36.5 per cent on year-on-year basis. This is caused mainly due to many refiners switching over to refining of soft oils from crude palm oil.
During the period November 2011 to September 2012, palm oil products import has increased to 6.82 million tonnes as compared to 5.92 million tonnes in the same period of last year.
It may be noted that share of crude oils in total imports has reduced from 87% in November-September 2010-11 period to about 83 per cent in the November-September 2011-12 period.
Also, canola oil imports stood at about 90,000 tonnes during last 8 months compared to 3,601 tonnes during same period of last year, mainly due to lesser local crushing of rapeseed due to price disparity.
Vegetable oil imports during the month of September 2012 stood at 993,912 tonnes against 912,341 tonnes in the same month last year.