India has witnessed a substantial surge in vegetable oil imports, marking a 33% year-on-year increase to reach 18.66 lakh tonnes in August. This significant upturn is attributed to reduced duties and a resurgence in demand following a decline in domestic rates, as reported by the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA), an industry body.
India, renowned as the world’s largest purchaser of vegetable oil, imported 14.01 lakh tonnes of vegetable oil in August 2022.
The total vegetable oil imports for the first ten months of the 2022-23 oil year (spanning from November to October) have risen by 24%, reaching 141.21 lakh tonnes compared to 113.76 lakh tonnes during the same period in the previous year.
According to the SEA’s data, edible oils constituted the majority of the imports at 18.52 lakh tonnes, with non-edible oils accounting for 14,008 tonnes out of the total vegetable oil shipments recorded in August.