Cooking oil may become 10% cheaper

New Delhi: Cooking oil is likely to become up to 10 per cent cheaper in the next one week as global prices are falling because of coronavirus, industry executives said.

Global prices have a strong bearing on the Indian market because the country imports nearly 70 per cent of its annual consumption of 23.5 million tonnes of edible oil.

“Low demand in China, which is one of the biggest consumers, has led to a fall in prices in the global market and simultaneously in the domestic market,” said Angshu Mallick, deputy chief executive officer at Adani Wilmar.


“We will be passing on this drop in prices to consumers, which will reflect in the sticker packs of branded cooking oils in the coming week.”

Mallick said consumer will pay 10 per cent less— Rs 8 a litre for palm oil and soyabean oil—and 7 per cent less at Rs 5 a litre for sunflower oil.

Current wholesale prices of branded soyabean and palm oil are Rs 78 a litre, while that of sunflower oil is Rs 82 a litre. “With the spread of the coronavirus in other regions of the world, we can expect a further drop in prices by Rs 3 a litre,” said Mallick.

According to Sudhakar Desai, president at Indian Vegetable Oil Producers Association, edible oil prices in international market have fallen 15-22 per cent in the last 50 days due to poor global demand, coronavirus impact and long liquidation. Palm oil prices fell 20 per cent and soya and sunflower oil prices fell 15 per cent during this period. Desai said mustard oil prices have come down by 13 per cent while rice bran oil prices have fallen 20 per cent in the past two months.