India''s Vegetable Oil Import Expected To Drop In 2010-11: SEA.

India''s import of vegetable oil is expected to drop this year due to increase in domestic production of the oilseeds, an industry body said.

The country requires to import 8.5 to 8.6 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the current oil year to meet its domestic demands, Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said.

It had imported 9.2 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the 2009-10 oil year (November-October).

"The total import in the current year will be lower compared to the previous year by about 6-7 lakh tonnes. We would be importing about 8.5-8.6 million tonnes of vegetable oils this time," SEA Executive Director B V Mehta told PTI.

India imported 4.2 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the first seven months of 2010-11 oil year compared to 4.8 million tonnes in the year-ago period due to increase in oil seed output, booming crushing activity and a good crushing parity.

"The next five months of the 2010-11 oil year will see increased imports as almost 70-75 per cent of the total domestic produce has been crushed and the supply in the market is low," Mehta said.

Vegetable oil imports in the June 2011-November 2011 period is expected to be around 4.2-4.3 million tonnes, he noted.

Import of refined bleached and deodorised (RBD) palmolein, that witnessed a decline of 25 per cent in the November 2010-May 2011 period due to domestic availability, is also expected to rise.

India imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyabean oil from Argentina and Brazil.

The country''s total demand of vegetable oils is 14-15 million tonnes.

Source : in.news.yahoo.com