India’s vegetable oils imports up 16% in 2022-23 oil year

13 Nov 2023 Evaluate

India imported 167.1 lakh tonnes vegetable oils in the current 2022-23 oil year (November-October) as compared to 144.1 lakh tonnes in the previous 2021-22 oil year, i.e. up by 16%. The said growth driven by lower duty on certain edible oils. Out of the total vegetable oils, much of the imports were edible oils at 164.7 lakh tonnes, while non-edible oils were only 2.4 lakh tonnes during 2022-23 oil year.

Import of edible oils during the 2022-23 oil year has surged to 164.7 lakh tonnes. This increase of 24.4 lakh tonnes from previous year is driven by the current low of 5.5% duty on crude palm oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil. This influx of imports has transformed India into a prime destination for excess oil supplies. In value terms, edible oil imports were worth Rs 1.38 lakh crores in 2022-23, lower than Rs 1.57 lakh crores in 2021-22 and 1.17 lakh tonnes in 2020-21.

The country's import has gradually increased during the first quarter and slightly slowed down in the second quarter. However, imports increased again in the third quarter due to sharp reduction in domestic prices of edible oils. Import has declined in the fourth quarter due to larger stock in the pipeline and at the ports. 

Among palm oils, import of Refined bleached deodorized (RBD) Palmolein increased to 21.1 lakh tonnes, from 18.4 lakh tonnes during the 2022-23 oil year, while crude palm oil (CPO) jumped to 75.9 lakh tonnes from 54.9 lakh tonnes in the said period. Import of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) rose to 94,148 tonnes during 2022-23, from 79,740 tonnes in the previous oil year. Total import of palm products increased sharply due to price parity during the 2022-23 oil year, and thus increasing the share of palm oil to 59% from 56%.

Among soft oils, import of sunflower oil increased to 30 lakh tonnes during 2022-23 oil year, from 19.4 lakh tonnes in the previous year due to zero import duty till June 15. This led to reduction in import of soybean oil to 36.8 lakh tonnes from 41.7 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

© 2024 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt.Ltd.