India is the world’s largest importer and consumer of vegetable oils. | Photo: IndiaMART
India’s crude soybean oil imports hit a seasonal high of 454,639 tonnes in August even as local soybean prices fell below the minimum support price (MSP), industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said on Thursday.
According to the SEA, crude soybean oil imports in August 2023 amounted to 357,890 tons. The share of non-palm oils, including soybean oil, accounted for 48 percent of total vegetable oil imports.
The surge in imports comes as local soybean prices fell below the MSP, raising concerns over farmers’ incomes with the arrival of the new crop expected in the coming weeks.
SEA lauded the government’s efforts to procure soybean at MSP in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, but suggested increasing import duties on crude and refined edible oils by 20-25 per cent across the board as a more effective solution.
“This will result in a remunerative price for farmers for their produce and market forces will be able to pay them prices above the MSP and at the same time the government will not have to purchase at the MSP,” SEA said in a statement.
The industry body said that in the last two months, ex-mandi prices of soybean were Rs 550-600 per quintal below the MSP of Rs 4,892 per quintal, triggering unrest among farmers.
However, total vegetable oil imports declined to 15.63 lakh tonnes in August from 18.66 lakh tonnes a year ago.
In the non-palm oils segment, crude sunflower oil imports fell 22.34 per cent to 2.84 lakh tonnes in August from 3.65 lakh tonnes a year ago.
Palm oil imports, which account for 52 per cent of total vegetable oil imports, fell 29.32 per cent to 7.97 lakh tonnes in August 2024, compared with 11.28 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.
During the first ten months of the current oil year (November-October), total vegetable oil imports were 161.08 lakh tonnes, down 16 per cent from 192.41 lakh tonnes imported in the same period last year.
India is the largest importer and consumer of vegetable oils in the world.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 12, 2024 | 20:13 IS
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