Edible oil imports down

Import of edible oils in the first eight months of the oil year (November 2003 - June 2004) fell 28 per cent at 2,403,609 tonne from 3,344,970 tonne last year, according to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).

Imports declined in June 2004 to 335,127 tonne compared with 535,927 tonne.

"The domestic availability of all the oilseeds has been high during the period from April to June, especially rapeseed which has high oil content. However, the total import is likely to go up to around 42 lakh tonne after July, which would bring it to roughly the same level as last year," said B V Mehta, executive director, SEA.

Import between November 2003 and March 2004 was more or less the same compared with the previous year. April-June imports fell to 773,934t from 1,770,550t. This caused the fall in 8-month edible oil import.

The import of refined oil from November 2003 to June 2004 was 454,773t or 19 per cent of total edible oil import, against 95,842t or just 3 per cent in the same period of last year.

Import of crude oil from November 2003 to June 2004 was 1,948,866t or 81 per cent, against 3,249,128t or 97 per cent during the same period of last year.

Non-edible oil imports in June was 14,159t compared with 24,843t in same month in the previous year. Total import between November 2003 and June 2004 was 145,642t compared to 158,732t. Crude palm stearin and P.F.A.D. were the major non-edible oils imported.