India imported 164.7 lakh tonnes (lt) of edible oil during the oil year 2022-23 (November to October) against 140.3 lt during the oil year 2021-22, recording a growth of 17.39 per cent.

In terms of value, India imported approximately ₹1.38 lakh crore of edible oil during the oil year 2022-23 against ₹1.57 lakh crore in 2021-22 and ₹1.17 lakh crore in 2020-21.

BV Mehta, Executive Director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), attributed this increase of 24.4 lt of edible oil imports to the current low 5.5 per cent duty on crude palm oil (CPO), soyabean oil and sunflower oil.

He said this influx of imports has transformed India into a prime destination for excess oil supplies. Notably, RBD palmolein imports constitute over 25 per cent of the total palm oil imports, significantly impacting the domestic refining industry, which is grappling with a significant underutilisation of its installed capacity, he said.

Import of edible oil decreased from 47.46 lt in the Q1 of the oil year 2022-23 to 32.55 lt in Q2. From there it increased to 41.20 lt in Q3 and 43.43 lt in Q4 of the oil year 2022-23. On the increase in the import of edible oil during Q3, Mehta said the sharp reduction in domestic prices of edible oils during the quarter boosted the demand.

Palm oil up

Import of palm oil products increased sharply due to price parity and was reported at 97.89 lt during the oil year 2022-23 against 79.15 lt in the previous year. Of this, the share of CPO stood at 75.9 lt (59.9 lt in the previous oil year) and RBD palmolein at 21.1 lt (18.4 lt). Mehta said import of RBD palmolein increased sharply as Indonesia was discounting the RBD palmolein over CPO.

The share of palm oil products in the total edible oil import basket increased to 59 per cent from 56 per cent.

During the oil year 2022-23, Indonesia exported 37.50 lt of CPO and 17.66 lt of RBD palmolein to India. Malaysia exported 26.97 lt of CPO and 3.02 lt of RBD palmolein to India during the period. Thailand, which is emerging as a regular supplier of CPO to India, supplied 8.07 lt of CPO and 16,499 tonnes of RBD palmolein to India during the year.

Soft oils

Though the overall import of soft oils import increased marginally, the share of soft oils reduced to 41 per cent from 44 per cent in the total edible oil import basket. India imported 66.77 lt of soft oils during 2022-23 as against 61.15 lt in the previous oil year.

Import of sunflower oil increased to 30.01 lt (19.44 lt) during the period. However, import of soyabean oil declined to 36.76 lt in 2022-23 from 41.71 lt in the previous oil year.

India imported 18.47 lt of crude soyabean de-gummed oil from Argentina followed by Brazil at 14.45 lt. During the year, Russia exported 9.79 lt of crude sunflower oil followed by Romania (mainly Ukraine origin) at 6.44 lt, Ukraine at 4.87 lt and Argentina at 4.76 lt.

The ratio of refined oil and crude oil in the total edible oil basket was at 13:87 in the oil year 2022-23. The ratio was at 3:97 in 2019-20 and 5:95 in 2020-21.

He said the Centre has reduced the import duty on edible oils from June 2021 to June 2023 to provide relief to domestic consumers. Currently, CPO, soyabean oil and sunflower oil attract 5.5 per cent of import duty and RBD palmolein, refined soyabean oil and sunflower oil attract 13.75 per cent duty.

Veg oil

Import of vegetable oils (both edible and non-edible oils) increased to 167.1 lt during the oil year 2022-23 against 144.1 lt in 2021-22.

Import of vegetable oils decreased to 10.30 lt in October 2023 against 13.96 lt in October 2022 mainly due to excessive import in previous months and heavy domestic stocks, he said.

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