New Delhi (PTI): India is likely to import 6.5-7 lakh tonnes of vegetable per month oil till October 2009, taking the country's total import to up to 85 lakh tonnes, an industry expert said.
"At this stage, my prognosis is for vegetable oil imports to continue in the remaining months up to October at a pace of 6,50,000 to 7,00,000 tonnes per month, with higher tonnages in the festival months," Dorab E. Mistry, a director of Godrej International, said in a recent paper.
This would push the country's total vegetable oil imports to 8.5 million tonnes during the 2008-09 oil year (November- October), compared with 6.3 million tonnes in the same period last year, he said.
Mr. Mistry pointed out that imports would increase due to rise in consumption following the removal of import duty.
Pointing out that India's vegetable oil import was 17 lakh tonnes more during the first six months of the oil year, he said, "At first many of us thought these massive imports were going into storage and hoarding due to the removal of import duty. The Indian trade may have expected import duty to be re-imposed and could be building up stocks with a view to making a quick profit. We were wrong."
Low prices had spurred per capita consumption in this quintessentially price elastic market, he added.
Source : The Hindu