The import of edible oils fell to 9,00,085 tonnes from 10,29,912 tonnes, while shipments of non-edible oils declined to 11,761 tonnes from 23,435 tonnes.
The prices of palm, soybean, European rapeseed and even its Canadian GMO counterpart, canola oil, have reached historic highs following Indonesia's announcement on Wednesday
While basic customs duties have been cut for the second time in less than a month, edible oil prices continue to remain high. With the festive season set to begin soon, the cut-off date for ending duty cuts -- September 30 -- may now be extended.
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.
While shipments of edible oil increased to 149.13 lakh tonnes in the 2018-19 marketing year (November-October) from 145.16 lakh tonnes in the previous year, the imports of non-edible oil grew to 6,36,159 tonnes from 5,09,748 tonnes during the period under review, Solvent Extractors' Association said in a statement.
India imported 15 million tonnes of vegetable oil in 2017-18 and is the world’s largest importer of the commodity.
India, the world's leading vegetable oil buyer, had imported 84.43 lakh tonnes of palm oils during the last marketing year (November-October).
India's largest multinational flexible packaging materials and Solution Company Uflex Limited has reported a 22% rise in consolidated net profit for Q4 FY 2016-17 as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal.
The new RBD palmolein futures contract, alongside the existing crude palm oil (CPO) contract, is expected to benefit refiners, importers, and palmolein end users, providing market participants solution to manage refining margins and hedge against unfavourable price movements in the global crude palm oil and palmolein markets, it said.
India, the world's leading vegetable oil buyer, had imported 7,90,368 tonnes palm oil in December 2015.
Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) demanded that duty difference between crude and refined vegetable oils should be increased from 7.5 percent to 15 percent. At present, import duty on crude edible oil is 12.5 percent and refined edible oil at 20 percent.
The maximum fall was witnessed in dairy prices, which fell by 28.5 percent compared to 2014, marking its lowest since 2009. It was followed by sugar prices, which were down by 21 from 2014 levels, as per the FAO price index.
A sharp fall in prices for vegetable oils and dairy products saw the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (UN)'s food price index fall to 164.6 points last month—one percent lower than in June and 19.4 percent lower than last year.
"Export of Rice Bran oil in bulk has been exempted from the prohibition on export of edible oils. Also, the quantity ceiling on export of organic edible oils has been removed," Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
Unbelievable as it may sound, a Bengaluru-based scientist, in a major breakthrough, has claimed to have produced cooking gas (Propane and butane) with water, vegetable and sunlight.
The world's biggest vegetable oil importer levies a 2.5 percent tax on the crude variety and 10 percent on refined. It imports nearly 60 percent of its 18-19 million tonnes annual demand, mostly as palm oil from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia.
In order to ensure long-term investor interest into the country, Godrej says the government must emphasise on ease of doing business, along with a stream-lined, investor friendly tax regime such as GST.
Rising prices of agri-commodities like wheat, flour, sugar and vegetable oil is affecting the margins of the biscuit manufacturers, who have demanded that the government should reduce the VAT levied on biscuits.