New Delhi: India’s palm oil imports declined by 8.64 per cent to 7,41,490 tonnes in December 2019 compared to 8,11,700 tonne in December 2018, according to the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA).
The country’s total vegetable oil imports declined to 11.28 lakh tonne in December 2019 from 12.11 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.
The share of palm oil is more than 60 per cent of the country’s total vegetable oil imports.
Palm oils import declined while that of soft oils have risen due to reduction in the duty difference between the two oils, the SEA said.
Among palm oil products, import of crude palm oil (CPO) declined to 6,31,824 tonne in December 2019, from 6,70,244 tonne in the year-ago period.
The shipment of RBD palmolein dropped to 94,816 tonne, from 1,30,459 tonne, while that of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) rose to 14,850 tonne from 10,997 tonne in the said period.
Among soft oils, import of sunflower oil declined to 1,97,842 tonne in December 2019 from 2,35,824 tonne in the year-ago period.
However, the shipment of soyabean oil rose sharply to 1,68,048 tonne from 85,404 tonne in the said period.
SEA said the government on January 8, this year banned import of RBD palmolein to regulate excessive import of refined palm oils. The import will now be subjected to license, to be issued by Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).