India's edible oil imports slump by 39 pc in May

New Delhi, June 17 (PTI) - India's edible oil imports
declined by 39 percent in May to 3.02 lakh tonnes as traders
and refiners reduced inventory due to stock limit imposed by
the various state governments, the Solvent Extractors'
Association of India said today.

"Imports slowed down in the last month because traders
feared harassment from officials even though imported oil is
exempted from stock limit," the Association's Executive
Director B. V. Mehta said in a statement.

Edible oil imports slumped by 39 percent to 3.02 lakh
tonnes in May from 4.94 lakh tonnes during the same period
last year. Even non-edible oil reported a declining trend at
59,219 tonnes, down by 49 percent from previous year, SEA data
showed.

Imports were hit badly during April month as well, it
noted.

In a bid to curb spiralling prices and check stockpiling
of essential commodities, some of the state governments put
restrictions on the stocks of edible oil, oilseeds and
foodgrains.

"This may lead to deplete the stock in pipeline and may
put upward pressure on prices of edible oils if the situation
does not change in the coming months," Mehta noted.
According to SEA, total import of edible oil during first
seven month of edible oil year stood at 25.46 lakh tonnes, up
by 16 percent from previous year. Edible oil year runs from
November-October 2007-08.

In last two months, global prices of crude palm oil and
RBD palmolein have gone up marginally. However, crude soyabean
oil increased over 150 dollar per tonne, while sunflower oil
by over 200 dollar per tonne, it said.

India buys mainly RBD palmolein, crude palm oil, crude
soybean oil and crude sunflower oil from overseas market. PTI