Import of vegetable oils between Nov'11 - Mar'12 up by 21%

KOLKATA: Import of vegetable oils by India during November 2011 and March 2012 is reported at 3,789,629 tonnes which is a 21% increase compared to 3,128,418 tonnes in the same period previous oil year (November -October). The data was released on Friday by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India.

The import of vegetable oils during March 2012 is reported at 727,706 tonnes compared to 435,735 tonnes in March 2011, consisting of 702,335 tonnes of edible oils and 25,371 tonnes of non-edible oils - up by 67%.

During Novemeber 2011 to March 2012, import of refined oil ( RBD Palmolein) has been up by 78% and is reported at 821,960 tonnes compared to 461,034 tonnes during the same period last year. Share of refined oil has increased to 21%,w hile crude oil has decreased by 79% and stands at 2883,779 tonnes compared to2,563,462 tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year.

Share of refined oil is likley to increase as current Indonesian inverted duty structure encourage larger export of refined oils (9% export duty) over crude oil (18% export duty) and also reduces the gap between crude and refined oil.

During November 2011 to march 2012 palm oil import has increased to 2,946,736 tonnes compared to 2,346,750 tonnes during the same period last year. Overall soft oils import has increased to 759,003 tonnes compared to 677,746 tonnes last year.