India has reported 2.72% fall in vegetable oils imports during 2017-18 oil year ended October 31 at 15 million tonnes (MT) as compared to 15.4 MT in the November 2016-October 2017 period.
About 70% of the domestic requirement is been met through imports, and palm oil accounts for about 60% of the shipments. As reported by Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), the country's edible oil shipments dipped to 14.51 MT in 2017-18 from 15.07 MT in the previous year, while non-edible oils' import rose to 5,09,748 tonnes from 3,62,822 tonnes earlier. While, Palm oil imports during the 2017-18 oil year declined to 8.7 MT from 9.29 MT in the previous year, while soft oils' shipments rose to 5.81 MT from 5.78 MT.
As per reports, prices of various edible oils in overseas market over the last one year have dipped in the range of 11% to 25% in last one year, tracking excessive supplies and dip in demand from India. The higher import duties, rupee depreciation and credit crunch are stated as main reasons for down fall in vegetable oil import, as per SEA.