Vegetable oil imports rise 7% in Aug, refined palmolein shipments drop

New Delhi: India’s vegetable oil imports rose by 7 per cent to 16.77 lakh tonne in August compared to the year-ago month despite a sharp drop in refined palmolein shipments following import duty changes, industry body SEA said on Monday. Total vegetable oil imports stood at 15.63 lakh tonne in August 2024.

The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said the country imported 16.21 lakh tonne of edible oils and 55,821 tonnes of non-edible oils in August. Among edible oils, crude oil imports rose to 16.13 lakh tonne in August, while refined palmolein shipments plunged to 8,000 tonne from 92,130 tonne a year earlier.

The government increased the import duty differential between crude palm oil (CPO) and refined palm oil (RBD Palmolein) to 19.25 per cent from 8.25 per cent, effective May 31, making refined oil imports uneconomical.

“The government’s decision to increase the duty difference is a bold and timely move,” SEA said in a statement. “It started discouraging import of refined palmolein and shifted demand back to crude oils, thereby revitalising the domestic refining sector.” Crude palm oil imports jumped to 9.79 lakh tonne in August from 7 lakh tonne a year ago.

However, crude sunflower oil imports fell to 2.57 lakh tonne from 2.84 lakh tonne, while crude soybean oil imports declined to 3.67 lakh tonne from 4.54 lakh tonne.

India imported 6,000 tonnes of canola in August, while crude palm kernel oil shipments were 2,993 tonnes versus 4,641 tonnes in the same period last year.

India, the world’s largest edible oil consumer and importer, had higher edible oil stocks of 18.65 lakh tonne as of Sept. 1 due to increased imports over the past three months.