October 21, 2009

India's carry forward stocks of rapeseed from the current oil marketing year will likely cross 2 million tonnes amid higher imports of vegetable oils, a leading trade body said Tuesday (October 20).

India's oil marketing year runs from November to October.

The country had almost no carry forward rapeseed stocks last year, according to industry estimates.

"It is a fact that a large quantity of rapeseed from last year's crop is still not crushed," the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said in a statement.

India's vegetable oil imports reached an all-time monthly high in September at 905,192 tonnes, up from 667,916 tonnes a year earlier.

The total vegetable oil imports in the November-September period were also up at 8 million tonnes from 5.4 million tonnes.

Low international prices coupled with a nominal import duty and rampant blending with other domestic oils led to the rise in imports, hurting the domestic crushing industry, the trade body said.

India currently allows duty-free imports of crude edible oils, while a 7.5 percent duty is levied on refined edible oils.

The association has urged the government to look into the issue so domestic farmers and the industry don't suffer due to cheap and excessive imports.

India imports around half of its annual vegetable oil needs of about 15 million tonnes, mostly from Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia.