India's vegetable oil imports in August highest in two decades

India's vegetable oil imports touched 13.33 lakh tonnes in August this year, highest in last two decades, on record shipment of soyabean oil, industry body SEA said today.
Imports are expected to rise further in coming months and put pressure on domestic edible oil prices, Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) warned and said vegetable oil imports are getting cheaper following measures taken by Indonesia and Malaysia -- two of the world's top palm oil producers -- to clear their huge stock.
To curb cheap imports and protect local oilseeds farmers, the SEA demanded the government to hike import duty of crude and refined edible oils from existing levels.

The country's previous highest import was 11.6 lakh tonnes way back in January 2013.
"Import of vegetable oils during August is up by 76 per cent at 13.33 lakh tonnes compared to 7.57 lakh tonnes in August 2013. This is highest in any single month since import allowed under open general licence (OGL) in 1994 by India," the SEA said.
Of total imports of vegetable oils, palm oil shipments stood at 8,05,131 tonnes, soyabean oil at 3,50,373 tonnes, sunflower oil at 1,40,349 tonnes, while non-edible oil comprised of 12,135 tonnes during August this year.

According to SEA, the overall jump in vegetable oil imports was mainly due to palm and soyabean oils. In fact, soyabean oil shipments touched a record 3.5 lakh tonnes in August, the highest in any single month in last two decades.

Going forward, India's vegetable oil imports are likely to increase and put pressure on domestic edible oil prices, which currently are at historic low since 2008, it said.
Palm oil imports by India, the world's biggest buyer, could increase due to expected lower global prices following imposition of zero duty on palm products by Malaysia effective this month and a similar step likely to be taken by Indonesia to reduce their burgeoning stocks, it added.
Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, charges a tariff up to 12.5 per cent on refined palm oil exports, while Malaysia, the second-largest supplier, applies zero duty on exports of similar products.

Emphasising the need to protect domestic farmers, SEA said: "There is an urgent need to support farmers by increasing import duty on crude vegetable oils from 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent and refined oils from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, which is the only viable option."
The industry body said local prices are also at a level where Indian oilseeds farmers will be in distress with a kharif harvest expected to arrive in next five-six weeks.
India has imported 95.25 lakh tonnes of vegetable oil during the November-August period of the 2013-14 marketing year, up by eight per cent from 87.92 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.