Vegetable oil imports fall by 6% in June; 4% in Nov-Jun

India's vegetable oil imports fell by 6 per cent in June to 7.32 lakh tonnes against 7.8 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, mainly due to a large quantity of imported stock lying at ports and in the pipeline.

The total stock, both at ports and in the pipeline, is estimated at 11.10 lakh tonnes, the Solvent Extractors Association said in a statement. In the vegetable oils category, the import of edible oils dropped to 6.92 lakh tonnes in June from 7.42 lakh tonnes in the same month last year.

Non-edible oils imports, however, rose to 39,280 tonnes from 38,198 tonnes. The total import of vegetable oils from November 2009 to June 2010 fell by 55.81 lakh tonnes, compared to 58.23 lakh tonnes in the corresponding months of the previous oil year.

Imports were higher in November and December during the current oil year (November to October), but they have been falling since then.

"The current stock of edible oils, as on July 1, at various ports is estimated at 5.5 lakh tonnes and about 5.6 lakh tonnes in pipelines. Total stock, both at ports and pipelines, is estimated at 11.10 lakh tonnes compared to 10.75 lakh tonnes as on June 1, 2010," SEA said.

It added that the stock is higher by 35,000 tonnes, compared to the previous month, due to higher imports in June. While the share of refined oil is 15 per cent, crude oil constitutes 85 per cent of the total vegetable oil import during the first eight months of the current oil year.

From November 2009 to June 2010, the palm oils import had reduced to 39.98 lakh tonnes, compared to 43.87 lakh tonnes during the same period of the previous year. However, soft oils import increased to 13.23 lakh tonnes, compared to 11.45 lakh tonnes.

"A narrow price difference between crude palm oil (CPO) and soyabean oil (SBO) in the last few months has encouraged larger import of SBO," SEA said. 

The gap between the landed prices of SBO and CPO has reduced to $40-55 in the last two months, leading to higher imports of SBO. In June, 1.92 lakh tonnes of SBO was imported, the highest in any month during the current oil year, the association added.

At present, import of crude oil is duty free while refined oil attracts a duty of 7.5 per cent. India, the second-biggest consumer after China, had imported a record 8.6 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the 2008-09 oil year, helped by the duty-free regime.