Crude Edible Oil Imports Rise in India Fueled by Improved Refinery Margins

Import of crude edible oil is at a new high, thanks to a sharp improvement in margins of refineries, the Business Standard reported this week.  The average global price of crude palm oil (CPO) declined by $25 to $551/MT for September, which made its import viable for Indian refineries.  In contrast, the price of refined oil (refined, bleached and deodorised or RBD) remained flat at $578 a ton.  As edible oil refineries are operating at a very thin margin, a $25 per  ton difference between CPO and RBD helped the import decision in favour of CPO, according to B V Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India.

Data from SEA showed the country’s vegetable oil import at 1.42 million MT in September, from 1.47 million MT in August.  Palm oil was 65 per cent of the total, the highest proportion since March.  Soybean, sunflower, rapeseed and others were 35 per cent.  Overall import during November 2017 to September 2018 was nearly 13.8 million MT, from close to 14.3 million MT in the comparable period last year.  India imports around 15.5 million MT annually to meet its growing consumer demand.