Edible oil imports in June at eight-month high of 11.62 lakh tn

The country's edible oil imports rose by 8 per cent to an eight-month high of 11.62 lakh tonne in June but palm oil shipments showed a sharp decline, trade body SEA said on Tuesday. India, the world's leading vegetable oil buyer, had imported 10.71 lakh tonne of edible oils in the same month last year.

However during the November-June period of the 2019-20 oil year, edible oil imports declined by 15 per cent to 80.51 lakh tonne from 94.55 lakh tonne in the year-ago, mainly due fall in shipment of RBD Palmolein, it added.

The oil year runs from November to October.

"This (June month) is the highest import in the last eight months of the oil year 2019-20," Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said in a statement.

Of the total imports in June, palm oils comprised 5.62 lakh tonne while that of soft oils was 5.99 lakh tonnes.

In fact, import of palm oils -- which comprise more than 60 per cent of the total edible oil shipments -- showed a decline of 18.04 per cent in June this year from 6.86 lakh tonne in the year-ago.

Among palm oils, import of RBD Palmolein declined sharply to 3,000 tonne in June this year as against 2.55 lakh tonne in the year-ago.

The SEA said that RBD Palmolein shipments have been declining since the product was brought under restricted trade category from January 8 this year.

"This is the lowest import of RBD Palmolein since India allowed its import in 1994. Last year, Malaysia shipped excessive RBD Palmolien to India taking the advantage of lower duty concession," it said.

However import of crude palm oil (CPO) remained higher at 5.59 lakh tonne as against 4.21 lakh tonnes in the said period. The country also imported 10,334 tonne of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) in the same period.

Among soft oils, import of sunflower oil increased to 2.68 lakh tonne in June from 1.61 lakh tonne in the year-ago month, while that of soyabean oil increased to 3.31 lakh tonne from 2.22 lakh tonne in June 2019.

"For the first time, import of soft oils in June 2020 is higher than palm oil since import started in 1994 and the ratio between soft oil and palm oil is 52:48," the SEA said.

In the lockdown period, the association said there was spurt in demand from households in consumer packs for sunflower and soybean oil, which is evidenced by an increase in their import by 17 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

According to the SEA, the stock has reduced in the last six months mainly due to lower domestic demand and reduced import of edible oil.

As on May 1, edible oil stock at various ports was 9.15 lakh tonne, down from 12.30 lakh tonne level on April 1.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soybean oil from Argentina. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.