Vegetable oil import dips by 26% in May

Vegetable oil imports fell for the fifth consecutive month in May by 26 per cent to 5.58 lakh tonnes due to increased supply, the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said today.

The country had imported 7.51 lakh tonne of vegetable oils in the year-ago period, it said in a statement.

According to SEA, the shipments of vegetable oils were on an average 7.8 lakh tonnes in the last two months of 2009, which fell gradually to 7 lakh tonnes in January and 5.43 lakh tonnes in April.

SEA Executive Director B V Mehta said that imports have slowed down as an estimated 5.5 lakh tonnes of edible oils were still lying at various ports as on June 1, while about 5.25 lakh tonnes of edible oils are yet to arrive.

"The shipments fell also because of a rise in the cost of import. For instance, the landed cost of crude palm oil in May was Rs 37.10 per kg, while the local price was Rs 36.60 per kg," renowned edible oil expert Govindhabi G Patel said.

According to the data released by SEA, of the total vegetable oil imports in May, edible oil accounted for 5.39 lakh tonnes and non-edible 19,596 tonnes.

During May 2009, India imported 6.96 lakh tonnes of edible and 54,472 tonnes of non-edible oils.

According to the data, refined oil share was 10 per cent of the total edible oil imports, while the rest 90 per cent was crude.

Crude palm oil import declined to 3.14 lakh tonnes in May, against 4.45 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. The shipment of RBD palmolein dipped to 56,284 tonnes from 1.42 lakh tonnes. However, import of soyabean oil increased to 1.10 lakh tonnes from 48,102 tonnes in the review period.

The country's total import of vegetable oil in the first seven months of the current oil year (November-October) has also declined by four per cent to 48.49 lakh tonnes.

According to SEA, India, the world's largest vegetable oil importer, is expected to buy about 90 lakh tonnes of vegetable oil from the global market in the 2009-10 oil year.