Edible Oil Import May Get Costlier.

Indian edible oil imports are likely to get costlier on lower farming of Soyabean in the US, traders said.

Lower export availability of soy oil from US will support vegetable oil prices, including palm oil making it more expensive for Indians in the retail shelf. Higher domestic production of oilseed like mustard, may limit the impact but the fact that India imports a major portion of its oil requirements makes it more sensitive.

India, the world's top vegetable oil buyer, buys mainly palm oils from Indonesia, Malaysia, and small quantities of soya oil from Argentina and Brazil. Ankita Parekh of Geojit Comtrade estimates domestic edible oil market to firm up by 10-20% in the near-term on tight supply.

‘Production of mustard crop is higher in the new season and is helping in cooling down the market. But the carryover stocks in India are low,” she said. According to data released by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, crude palm oil imports declined 29% to 276,436 tonne in February, while refined, bleached and deodorized palmolein imports fell 31.5% to 89,849 tonne. Sunflower oil imports decreased 21% to 37,237 tonne, but soy oil purchases rose 47% to 129,640 tonne. India’s total vegetable oil imports are estimated to fall to 8.7 - 8.8 million tonne this year from 9.2 million tonne last year, according to SEA.

Govindbhai G Patel, an expert in edible oil, reported in 2010 that Indian demand for edible oils would increase by around 4.4 % due to increase in per-capita consumption and population growth. The per-capita consumption is estimated at 12.75 kg as against 12.21 kg during 2009-10.

Source : financialexpress.com