India's palm oil imports fell 29.15 percent to 5.44 Lakh tonnes in December 2021, but an increase in shipments of RBD palmolin threatens the very existence of domestic refineries, the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said last week. India, the world’s leading vegetable oil buyer, had imported 7,68,392 tonnes of palm oils in December 2020. In December last year, palm oil imports fell to 5,44,343 tonnes. The country’s total vegetable oil imports declined by 10 per cent to 12.26 lakh tonnes in December 2021 compared to 13.56 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. The share of palm oil is more than 60 per cent of the country’s total vegetable oil imports. According to SEA, there has been a rise in imports of RBD palmolein that will affect domestic refiners. There is a huge disparity in prices of RBD palmolein and Crude Palm Oil (CPO) after reduction in import duty on the former. "The reduction in effective import duty on (refined) palmolein from 19.25 per cent to 13.75 per cent without simultaneous reduction in import duty on CPO has the potential to increase the import of refined palmolein at the cost of CPO, which is the raw material for domestic refiners,” it said. Since RBD palmolein is freely allowed at lower duty till March 2022, SEA said about 10 to 12 lakh tonnes of RBD palmolein imports are expected during the January-March quarter, replacing much of CPO as there is a disparity to the tune of Rs 6,000-8,000 per tonne in processing costs. "It indicates that Indian refiners have a heavy disparity and will compel them to close down the palm oil refineries,” it added. Among palm oil products, import of CPO declined 29.59 per cent to 5.28 lakh tonnes in December 2021 from 7.48 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, as per SEA data. The shipment of Crude Palm Kernel Oil (CPKO) also fell to 13,800 tonnes from 19,486 tonnes in the same period a year ago. Find more. |Source: Online/KSU
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