14 per cent drop in palm oil imports as consumption in restaurants declines

Mumbai, Ta. 11 September 2020, Friday

India's palm oil imports fell 19.50 per cent year-on-year to 31 tonnes in August. Consumption of palm oil has declined due to sluggish demand from hotels and restaurants due to the corona.

The country's soybean oil imports have declined by 10.50 per cent year-on-year to 8 tonnes. According to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (C), imports of sunflower oil have declined by 21 per cent.

India is the largest importer of edible oil. The decline in India's imports could put downward pressure on Malaysia's palm oil prices and US soybean prices.

Hotels and restaurants in the country consume the most palm oil. Hotels and restaurants are opening in phases as the lockdown eases after the effects of the coronavirus, but demand for palm oil has not increased due to the increase in cases of the coronavirus.

India imports its palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia. Soybean oil and sunflower are imported from countries like Russia, Brazil, Argentina.

In the first ten months of the marketing year, which began in November 2017, the country's edible oil imports fell by 12 per cent to 1.17 crore tonnes, according to Cena data. It may be mentioned here that the production of oilseeds is also expected to be high in the current year due to good monsoon in the country. Due to which India's imports are expected to be low.