In just 11 months, the nation's imports of refined palm oil have multiplied by 2.7 to reach 17.12 lakh tonnes. Imports were 6.28 lakh tonnes in the same period a year ago. This is due to the low prices of palm oil in Indonesia.
The Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said that during the period November to September 2021-22, India imported 1.30.1 million tonnes of vegetable oil. This is four percent more than a year ago.
According to SEA, Indonesia has reduced the import tax on refined palm oil. Due to this, oil exporters exported palm oil at a discount. Due to this, the country's crude palm oil imports have come down to 52.37 lakh tonnes between November last year and September this year. In the previous year, it was 68.64 lakh tonnes. However, total palm oil imports declined to 70.28 lakh tonnes from 76.27 lakh tonnes a year ago.
The importation of oils like soybean and sunflower has increased. Soybean oil imports rose to 56.35 lakh tonnes from 44.58 lakh tonnes a year ago. Between November and September, Malaysia exported 28.13 lakh tonnes of crude palm oil while 11.61 lakh tonnes of refined palmolein oil was exported. Indonesia exported 17.15 lakh tonnes of crude palm oil and 11.61 lakh tonnes of refined oil.