India's edible oil imports rose 33% in January, 2nd highest after Sept 2021

India's edible oil imports rose 33 per cent in January to 16.61 lakh tonnes, the highest since September 2021, driven by higher imports of sunflower oil, according to industry body SEA.

Import of vegetable oils (edible and non-edible oils) in January rose 31 per cent to 16,61,750 tonnes from 12,70,728 tonnes in the same month last year.

Edible oil imports rose to 16,61,750 tonnes in January -- the second highest monthly volume after September 2021 -- from 12,51,926 tonnes, while non-edible oil imports fell to nil from 18,802 tonnes, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

The total import of vegetable oils during the first three months of the oil year 2022-23 (November-October) rose 30 per cent to 47,73,419 tonnes compared to 36,71,161 tonnes in the same period last year.

Edible oil imports increased to 47,46,290 tonnes during November 2022-January 2023 period of the current oil year from 36,07,612 tonnes in the year-ago period, while shipments of non-edible oils fell to 27,129 tonnes from 63,549 tonnes.

"India's January sunflower oil imports surged to 4,61,000 tonnes, nearly triple average monthly imports as top exporters Russia and Ukraine seek to reduce stockpiles," the SEA said.

India's monthly sunflower oil imports averaged around 1,61,000 tonnes in 2021-22 oil year ended in October last year.

"The surge in sunflower oil and soyabean oil imports could dampen India's palm oil imports and weigh on palm oil prices," the association said.

SEA also expressed concern over the sharp increase in import of RBD (refined) palmolein in the first quarter of 2022-23 oil year at 6.30 lakh tonnes, nearly 20 per cent of total palm oil import, affecting domestic refineries.

"India's palm refining industry is heavily suffering from very low capacity utilization due to excessive import of RBD Palmolein and getting transformed into mere packers," the association said.

The duty difference between CPO (crude palm oil) and refined palmolein/palm oil needs to be increased from the current 7.5 per cent to at least 15 per cent by increasing RBD palmolein duty from current 12.5 per cent to 20 per cent without any change in CPO duty, it demanded.