Indian government issues order to scrap 20 percent crude soyoil import tax

India has issued an order eliminating a 20 percent import tax on crude soyoil.

"The stocks that were lying at the ports will start coming into the market now, which will dampen prices by 1 percent to 2 percent," said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a Mumbai-based trading firm.

The delay in issuing the notification, or formal order, until late Tuesday after an announcement last week, resulted in imported soyoil stocks piling up at Indian ports.

Traders were waiting for the formal order before lifting the soyoil - to avoid paying the tax. They estimated that more than 100,000 metric tonnes of soyoil were awaiting handling at major ports.

B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, said the notification's issuance "will settle all the confusion in the market."

Soyoil imports are expected to reach 1 million tonnes during the marketing year ending Oct. 31, compared with 760,000 tonnes last year.