India's vegetable oils import down 2pc in Sept

Vegetable oils' import fell two per cent to 14.91 lakh tonne (LT) in September due to rupee depreciation and higher custom duty, according to edible oil industry body SEA.

Total imports of vegetable oils were also down 3.5 per cent to 137.69 LT during November-September period of the 2017-18 oil year from 142.72 LT in the year-ago period, it said in a statement.

Oil year runs from November to October.

"The September vegetable oil imports declined marginally because of weak rupee and higher customs duty," Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) Executive Director B V Mehta said.

As per the SEA data, import of edible oil fell to 14.22 LT in September from 15.01 LT in the year-ago period, but the shipments of non-edible oils rose to 69,171 tonne from 17,994 tonne during the review period.

The country imported 2,44,577 tonne of RBD palmolein, 6,65,110 tonne of crude palm oil, 8,988 tonne of crude palm kernel oil in September this year.

It also imported 3,41,402 tonne of soyabean oil, 1,49,930 tonne of sunflower oil and 11,996 tonne of rapeseed oil in the said period.

The share of palm oil is more than 60 per cent of the country's total vegetable oil imports.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean oil from Latin America. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.