Vegetable oils import down 27% in July at 1.1 MT on import duty hike, rupee fall

Vegetable oils imports fell 27 per cent in July to over 1.1 million tonne (MT) on hike in import duty and rupee depreciation, according to industry data.

The country had imported over 1.5 MT of vegetable oils (comprising both edible and non-edible oils) in the year-ago period, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

"Import of vegetable oils during July 2018 is reported at 11,19,538 tonne compared to 15,24,724 tonne in July 2017... The current revision of import duty in June 2018, fast rupee depreciation and also credit crunch has led to negative growth in imports of vegetable oils," SEA said.

The rupee hit an all-time low of 70.1 to a US dollar earlier today on concerns over Turkey's economic woes.

Edible oil imports declined to 1.05 MT in July from 1.48 MT in the same month last year. Out of total imports last month, 52 per cent was palm oil and 42 per cent soft oils like soyabean and sunflower oil.

However, imports of non-edible oils rose to 65,825 tonne from 35,597 tonne during the period under review.

In the first nine months of the current oil year 2017-18 ending October, import of vegetable oils declined 5.5 per cent to 10.76 MT compared to 11.39 MT during the year-ago period.

Edible oil imports fell to 10.45 MT during November 2017-July 2018 period from 11.10 MT in the corresponding period of the 2016-17 oil year. Of total cooking oils import, palm oil shipments contributed 59 per cent.

Imports of non-edible oil, however, rose to 3,11,587 tonne in the first nine months of 2017-18 oil year from 2,87,201 tonne in the year-ago period.

India's total demand for edible oils during 2017-18 is estimated at 23 MT. The stock of edible oils as on August 1 at various ports is estimated at 9,28,000 tonne and about 15,47,000 tonne are in pipelines.

In June, the Centre raised the import duty by 5-10 per cent on non-palm edible oils, both crude and refined ones, in order to protect the interest of domestic oilseeds growers and processors.

In March this year, the government had raised the import duty on crude palm oils from 30 per cent to 44 per cent, while that on refined palm oils to 54 per cent from 40 per cent.