India's vegetable oil import declines 4% in Dec

Surge in crushing activities due to better monsoon has resulted in lower import of vegetable oils in December, 2010, according to a trade body. 

India's import of vegetable oil declines by 4.4 per cent to 7.52 lakh tonnes in December, 2010, according to the data compiled by Solvent Extractor's Association  of India (SEA).

The country had imported 7.87  lakh tonnes of vegetable oil in December 2009, SEA said.

"During this oil year (November-October period), better monsoon has increased the kharif production and it has resulted into better availability of seeds for crushing. And hence there is a reduced import," SEA Executive Director B V Mehta said.

He said last oil-year there was lesser crushing activities due to inadequate rains that had led to higher imports.

When asked whether there could be any pressure on prices of edible oils, he said as there is better crop this year, it will make up for any decline in imports.

India's production of oilseeds is estimated to have risen by 12 per cent to 15.4 million tonnes in the kharif season of the 2010-11 crop year from 13.7 million tonnes a year-ago, according to industry data.

The total import of vegetable oils in the first two months of the current oil year (November, 2010 to October 2011) declined by eight per cent to 14.21 lakh tonnes compared to 15.41 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period, an year ago.

During December, the import of edible oils declined by nearly four per cent to 7.30 lakh tonnes compared to 7.61 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period, a year-ago, SEA said.

The import of non-edible oils also declined by over 12 per cent in December last year to 22,494 tonnes against 25,588 tonnes in the same period year-ago.

The total import of vegetable oils during the oil year ended October 31, 2010, in the country stood at 88.23 lakh tonnes.

India is the world's largest importer of edible oil. The country imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and a small quantity of soyabean oil from Argentina and Brazil.