Indian Import of Vegetable Oils Sees Marginal Decrease in May 2023; Up 18% YoY.

Mumbai, 15 June (Commoditiescontrol):The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) reported a marginal decrease in the import of vegetable oils (both edible and non-edible) for May 2023 compared to the same month the previous year. The imports clocked in at 1,058,263 tons, a 0.30% drop from 1,061,416 tons in May 2022.

However, the overall import of vegetable oils from November 2022 to May 2023, the first seven months of the oil year, registered at 9,168,644 tons, marking an increase of 18% from the 7,768,990 tons recorded during the same period last year.

Comparing the import data between April and May 2023, there was a slight increase of 0.8% in the import of vegetable oils. The import of palm oil decreased by 10%, resulting in 4.39 lakh tons compared to 5.10 lakh tons. On the contrary, imports of soybean oil and sunflower oil rose by 21% and 18%, to 3.19 lakh tons and 2.95 lakh tons, respectively.

The stock of edible oils decreased from 3,245,000 tons on May 1, 2023, to 2,941,000 tons on June 1, 2023. This decline can be attributed to lower import volumes in May 2023.

Interestingly, the import of refined RBD Palmolein has increased rapidly, reaching 13% from 5% in 2020-21 and 3% in 2019-20.

During the first seven months of the current oil year, imports of palm products sharply increased to 5,348,396 tons due to price parity, up from 3,739,783 tons during the same period last year.

On the other hand, the import of soft oils was reduced. However, in the last two months, shipments of sunflower and soybean oils increased. However, the share of soft oils has reduced to 41% from 50%.

RBD Palmolein and Crude Palm Oil suppliers to India remain Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia supplied most of India's CPO and RBD Palmolein imports from November 2022 to May 2023.

Lastly, the import of non-edible oils reported a significant decline of 49% from November 2022 to May 2023 compared to the same period last year. The soap and oleo-chemical industry imports non-edible oils such as PFAD, RBD Palm Sterain, and PKFAD.

(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau: +91-9820130172)