India: In the first two months of the oil year 2023-24 (November to October), India’s edible oil imports fell by 20.38 percent.
According to figures from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), India imported 24.55 lakh tons (lt) of edible oil in the first two months of the oil year 2023-24, compared to 30.84 lt in the previous oil year 2022-23.
According to BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA, imports of sunflower oil increased while imports of crude palm oil (CPO) decreased throughout the time.
Imports of sunflower oil grew to 3.89 lt in November-December 2023-24, up from 3.51 lt in the previous oil year. During the period, India purchased 1.13 lt of crude sunflower oil from Russia, 1.09 lt from Romania, 85,012 tonnes from Argentina, and 42,990 tonnes from Ukraine.
However, the import of soyabean oil fell from 4.81 lt in November-December 2022-23 to 3.02 lt in the same period in 2023-24. During the time, India purchased 1.48 liters of crude soyabean de-gummed oil from Argentina and 1.01 liters from Brazil.
CPO shipments decline
Compared to 17.75 lt in November and December of 2022–2023; the import of CPO decreased to 13.12 lt in the first two months of 2023–2024. RBD palmolein’s import stood at 4.22 lt (4.58 lt) over the period.
During that time, Malaysia imported 37,342 tonnes of RBD palmolein and 4.46 tonnes of CPO from Indonesia, whereas Indonesia exported 7.16 tonnes of CPO and 3.85 tonnes of RBD palmolein to India.
Soft oils vs palm oil
From November to December of 2023–24, imports of palm oil products (including CPO and RBD palmolein) reduced to 17.63 lt from 22.50 lt during the same period the previous oil year, and imports of soft oils decreased to 6.92 lt from 8.33 lt.
In the meantime, during the current oil year, the share of crude edible oils fell from 85% to 83%, while the share of refined oils (RBD palmolein) in the total import increased from 15% in November-December 2022–2023 to 17% in 2023–2024.
Stock down a tad
Compared to 29.60 lt on December 1, India’s total edible oil stock was recorded at 28.97 lt as of January 1. This includes a 19.49 lt pipeline stock as of January 1 and a tentative 9.48 lt stock at various ports.
