India's Vegetable Oil Imports Decline 6th Straight Month to 11.87 Lakh Tonnes in May

India's vegetable oil imports fell for the sixth consecutive month by 22.36 per cent to 11.87 lakh tonnes in May from a year earlier, industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said on Thursday, asserting the recent import duty cut will not impact the overall volumes.

Total vegetable oils, comprising both edible and non-edible oils, stood at 15.29 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

During the first seven months of the 2024-25 oil year (November-October), total vegetable oil imports decreased to 78.84 lakh tonnes, from 86.78 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period a year earlier.

On May 30, the government reduced the basic import duty on palm, soybean and sunflower oils to 10 per cent from 20 per cent, effectively reducing the total import duty from 27.5 per cent to 16.5 per cent.

"This move will not impact the overall volume of edible oil imports and is unlikely to cause any upward pressure on edible oil prices," SEA said.

It will discourage imports of refined palmolien and shift demand back to crude palm oil, thereby revitalising the domestic refining sector, it said.

On the contrary, the reduction in duty on crude oil will help reduce domestic prices, benefiting consumers. The Association has appealed to the members to pass on the duty cut benefits to consumers, it added.

As per the SEA data, palm oil imports fell 22.32 per cent to 5.92 lakh tonnes in May from 7.63 lakh tonnes a year ago, with crude palm oil shipments down 5.03 per cent to 5.05 lakh tonnes.

Among soft oils, soyabean oil imports declined 23 per cent to 3.98 lakh tonne, while sunflower oil imports plunged 55.30 per cent to 1.83 lakh tonne.

The share of palm oil decreased to 42 per cent from 58 per cent in the last seven months, while soft oils increased to 57 per cent from 42 per cent.

India, the world's largest edible oil consumer and importer, had edible oil stocks of 13.33 lakh tonnes as of June 1.

"The import of nearly 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of refined edible oils every month from Nepal affecting overall import by India and thereby stock position," the SEA said.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the major palm oil suppliers to India, while Argentina, Brazil and Russia supply soybean oil. Russia and Ukraine are the main suppliers of sunflower oil.