Veg oil imports down 10.5 pc to 11.12 lakh tonnes in Feb

Vegetable oil imports fell 10.5 per cent to 11.12 lakh tonnes last month, mainly due to lower shipments of refined palm oil, according to industry data.

Import of vegetable oil during February 2020 is reported at 11,12,478 tonnes compared to 12,42,533 tonnes in February 2019, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

Out of total vegetable oil imports last month, 10,89,661 tonnes was edible oil, while 22,817 tonnes was non-edible oil, SEA said.

The overall import of vegetable oil during November 2019 to February 2020 fell 6.1 per cent to 45,63,791 tonnes compared to 48,62,849 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Oil year runs from November to October.

"In view of placing RBD Palmolein under restricted list with effect from January 8, 2020, its import has drastically reduced in February 2020 at 33,677 tons," SEA said.

"Import of crude sunflower and crude soyabean oil sharply increased as spread between palm oil and soft oils reduced to nearly USD 75 to 80 per tonne, encouraging larger import of soft oils," it added.