Vegetable oil import is estimated to increase by 9.51 per cent to 160 lakh tonnes (LT) during 2015-16 oil year ending October, due to lower oilseeds production and higher demand for edible oils.
The total production of kharif and rabi oilseeds during 2015-16 including cottonseed and copra is estimated at 318.16 lakh tonnes compared to 336.79 lakh tonnes in 2014-15.
"Total import of vegetable oils (edible + non-edible) is estimated at 160 lakh tonnes during 2015-16 (Nov-Oct) against 146.1 lakh tones in 2014-15," industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said in a statement.
SEA also said that for level playing field, the government should raise the import duty difference between crude and refined oils from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent to safeguard the farmers interest and higher capacity utilisation of refiners which are currently operating at 40 to 50 per cent only.
"The refining sector of the vegetable oil industry is suffering heavily and capacity utilisation has further reduced due to larger import of refined oil in the last few months," it added.
In September last year, the government had raised import duty on crude edible oils to 12.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent, while the duty on refined edible oils was increased to 20 per cent from 15 per cent.
