Imports of RBD Palmolein have surged to 371,060 tonnes for May, the highest for a single month since 2013, according to the latest data of vegetable oil imports. The rise is attributed to duty advantage given to Malaysia for Palmolein under India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) signed in 2011.

Since December 2018, RBD palmolein imports have seen a sharp surge.

The crude palm oil imports, on the other hand, continu to decline. . In December, 2018, India imported 670,244 tonnes , which came down to 4,39,590 tonnes in May, 2019.

BV Mehta, Executive Director, SEA, said “Malaysia is selling cheap RBD Palmolein because they have excess production. And India's duty structure is such that it makes refined palmolein cheaper than importing CPO. This is affecting the domestic refining industry as well as employment. The capacity utilisation of our refineries has come down from 60-65 per cent earlier to about 40 per cent now..”

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