Groundnut oil reaches new high of Rs 2,200 per 15 kg

Groundnut oil prices have reached a new high to Rs 2,200 per 15 kg tin on Monday as most of the mills are having shortage of groundnut for crushing.

During the last three days price of the oil has increased by over Rs 50 per tin. While the millers attributed the price rise to lower groundnut production in the state, the retail demand in the domestic market remained weak.

“As this year groundnut crop has almost failed in Gujarat due to poor monsoon, arrival of groundnut is very poor. Currently, hardly 15,000 bags (40 kg each) of groundnut arrive every day in Gujarat that is not enough for millers. Moreover, peanuts traders are also buying around 50 percent of the arrivals. In this condition we are having shortage of nuts for crushing,” said Ravjibhai Mandanaka, president of Gondal Oil Mills Association.

Groundnut oil loose has traded on Rs 1,300-1,310 per 10 kg, teliya tin (15 kg unrefined) stood at Rs 1,995-2,000 per 15 kg tin. While refined groundnut oil for 15 kg new tin has quoted Rs 2,200 in Rajkot on Monday. Trading of groundnut oil from Saurashtra’s mills is about 80-100 tonnes every day.

At the beginning of edible oil year that starts from October, groundnut arrival was around 7,000-8,000 bags per day and gradually it increased to 60,000-70,000 bags per day. But now it has decreased to 15,000-17,000 bags per day. Short arrival has also increased the groundnut price to Rs 1,100-1,150 per 20 kg.

Samir Shah, president of Saurashtra Oil Mills Associuation (SOMA), said, “Price of groundnut oil has gone up because sellers are not able to fulfill the demand as they do not have enough availability of groundnut for crushing.”

Due to lower availability of groundnut, hardly 25-30 groundnut oil mills are operational in the Saurashtra region. According to Samir Shah and Ravajibhai Mandanaka, groundnut oil price may go up to Rs 2,300 per tin (15 kg) in near future.