Edible Oil Imports Likely To Touch 17 MT In 2022-23: SEA

New Delhi, Oct 14 (KNN) India’s import of edible oils is projected to reach  17 million tonne (MT) in the current oil year (November 2022-October 2023), Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said on Friday.

The SEA attributed the decline in global prices to rising domestic demand and lower import duty has pushed up imports. 

As per SEA, the volume of cooking oil imports is expected to be the highest since 2016-17 when the country imported 15.1 MT of oil.

During November-September in the current oil year, edible oil imports have surged by 20 per cent to 15.46 MT compared to the same period last year.

India’s palm oil imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have risen by more than 29 per cent  to 9.8 MT in the November-September period of the current oil year compared to the previous year. The share of palm oil in total edible oil imports has increased to 59 per cent  in the current oil year so far, up from 55 per cent in the previous year.

SEA has drawn attention to the issue of the increase in refined palmolein oil, which poses a serious threat to the domestic edible oil refining capability.  

Industry sources said that despite adequate domestic availability, a sharp drop in domestic edible oil prices has pushed up demand and per capita consumption has increased with falling domestic edible oil prices in recent months.

The trade body has stated that the import of RBD or refined palm oil has surged which now constitutes over 25 per cent to total palm imports. 

“This surge has severely impacted the refining industry, which is grappling with massive overcapacity,” SEA has stated in a note.

Imports of crude soybean and sunflower during the November-September period in the current oil year were 38.87 MT and 1.79 MT, respectively.

Currently, crude palm, soybean, and sunflower oil imports attract only a 5 per cent agri infra cess and a 10 per cent education cess, resulting in a total tax incidence of 5.5 per cent. Retail inflation in the ‘oil and fats’ categories declined by 14.04 per cent last month compared to the previous year.

India imports about 56 per cent of its total annual edible oil consumption of around 24 to 25 MT.   (KNN Bureau)