Crude palm oil shipment at record high

Edible oils import up 34% to 15.29 lakh tonne

India’s edible oil imports rose 34 per cent in November to 15.29 lakh tonne on sharp jump in import of crude palm and refined palm oils, according to industry body SEA.

The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) on Wednesday released the data of imports of total vegetable oils comprising edible oil and non-edible oil for November, the first month of 2022-23 oil marketing year.

As per the data, imports of vegetable oils rose 32 per cent in November 2022 to 15,45,540 tonne from 11,73,747 tonne in the same month last year.

Out of total vegetable oil imports, SEA said shipments of edible oils increased to 15,28,760 tonne in November this year from 11,38,823 tonne in the same month of 2021.

Import of non-edible oils fell 52 per cent in November 2022 to 16,780 tonne from 34,924 tonne in the year-ago period.

Further, in edible oils category, SEA said imports of crude palm oil (CPO) were highest in a single month.

India imported a record 9,31,180 tonne of CPO in November 2022 as against 4,77,160 tonne in the year-ago period. The previous high for CPO import was 8,78,137 tonne in October 2015, it added.

Import of RBD (refined) palmolein increased to 2,02,248 tonne in November from 58,267 tonne in the same month last year. Sunflower oil imports also increased to 1,57,709 tonne from 1,25,024 tonnes.However, shipments of crude soyabean oil declined to 2,29,373 tonne last month from 4,74,160 tonne in November 2021.