Vegetable oil imports down marginally to 11.28 lakh tonne in Nov

New Delhi, Dec 13 () Vegetable oil imports fell marginally to 11.28 lakh tonne in November due to decline in inward shipments of non-edible oil, according to Solvent Extractors' Association.

Out of the total vegetable oil import, the shipments of edible oil rose to 10,97,424 tonne in November 2019 from 10,73,353 tonne in the same month last year.

Non-edible oils import, however, fell to 30,796 tonne compared to 60,450 tonne in the year-ago period, SEA said in a statement.

"Import of vegetable oils during November 2019 is reported at 11,28,220 tonne compared to 11,33,893 tonne in November, 2018," the statement said.

Oil year runs from November to October.

Import of refined palm oil drastically reduced following the imposition of 5 per cent safeguard duty on shipments from Malaysia with effect from September 4, 2019.

The import of refined palm oil stood at 2.57 lakh tonne in August and 2.64 lakh tonne in September. However, shipments reduced to 1.18 lakh tonne in October and stood at 1.22 lakh tonne in November.

During November 2019, import of refined oil (RBD Palmolein) increased to 1,24,909 tonne from 1,08,911 tonne in November 2018. Import of crude oil increased to 9,75,015 tonne from 9,64,442 tonne in November 2018.

India's vegetable oil imports increased 3.5 per cent to 155.5 lakh tonne in 2018-19 marketing year, due to increase in inward shipments of refined oils. MJH ANU