Centre hikes base prices of soyabean, palm oil

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday revised the base import prices of palm and soyabean oils by amounts traders said were largely in line with market expectations. The price of crude palm oil was raised to $447 per tonne from $432, while that of crude soyabean oil was increased to $570 a tonne from $566, a government official said.

India buys palm oils mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia, and soya oil from Argentina and Brazil. The government fixes base prices to calculate customs duties and prevent any loss of revenue due to under-invoicing by importers. Traders pay duties on the base value irrespective of the prices paid for the oil.

The price of RBD palm oil was increased to $476 per tonne from $459, and others palm oil to $462 per tonne from $446. Crude palmolein was increased to $481 per tonne from $460, and RBD palmolein to $484 per tonne from $463.

“This is in line with the increase in international prices in the last few days,” said BV Mehta, president, Solvent Extractors Association of India.

“The market was expecting an increase in crude palm oil and so it has happened,” he added. India currently imports about 60 to 65% of edible oils in the form of palm oils and the remaining as soya oils.
The country’s edible oil imports are likely to decline to about 4.8m tonnes in the year to September ‘06 from about 5 million tonnes a year earlier because of higher domestic output, traders said.

Meanwhile, local traders are likely to offer soyameal from the new soyabean crop at around $215-$220 a tonne, including cost and freight, to South-east Asia, for shipments from late October onwards, regional traders said on Monday.

“That is the price level we are expecting,” said one trader attending a regional grains conference. Indian soyameal from the new crop is likely to be available from late October onwards and traders are expecting the South Asian supplier to harvest a good soyabean crop despite late rains delaying planting earlier in the season.