May 2, 2007

India keeps soy, palm oils base import prices unchanged

India on Tuesday (May 1) left the base import prices of soy oil and palm oils unchanged at current levels to keep a check on local prices and inflation.

The base import price for crude palm oil was left unchanged at US$447 a tonne, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The base import price for crude soyoil was left unchanged at US$580/tonne.

In India, import tariffs for palm oils and soyoil are calculated from base import prices, regardless of the actual price at which importers buy the commodities.

India currently imports crude palm oil at around US$740/tonne, but the import duty is calculated at US$447/tonne.

It imports crude soyoil around USUS$755/tonne, but the import duty is calculated at US$580/tonne, so the import tariffs in real terms are much lower.