According to industry association SEA, edible oil prices have fallen by Rs 8-10 per kg in the last month, mostly due to lower import levies, and may fall by Rs 3-4/kg in the future months due to increasing domestic oilseed output and a bearish trend in global markets. In a statement, Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) President Atul Chaturvedi said, “The previous few months have been distressing for the Indian edible oil consumer, mostly due to very high international prices of all oils, viz. palm, soya, and sunflower.”
He said the SEA had recommended its members to slash prices as much as possible before Diwali, and that the Centre had also slashed import levies on edible oils. “We are pleased to state that all of these initiatives have resulted in edible oil costs falling by roughly Rs 8-10 per kg in the previous 30 days,” said Chaturvedi.
According to the SEA, its members have previously responded appropriately in passing on the benefits of decreased prices to customers. “In the near future, we believe prices would be cut by roughly Rs 3-4 per kg. This should help our edible oil customers during the holiday season “he stated
Chaturvedi stated that edible oil prices would remain stable due to a large soybean crop of over 120 lakh tonnes and a groundnut yield of more than 80 lakh tonnes.
“The cherry on top is that high mustard seed costs generated a big supply-side response from farmers, who planted an all-time high mustard crop in around 77.62 lakh hectares. This amount is over 30% more than last year’s, with the potential to increase domestic mustard oil availability by 8 to 10 lakh tonnes this year “Added he.
According to Chaturvedi, the global trend in edible oil pricing is “pretty negative, and we believe prices will continue to fall.”
According to SEA, India imports about 65 percent of its entire edible oil consumption, which is around 22-22.5 million tonnes. To fill the gap between demand and indigenous supply, the country imports 13-15 million tonnes. Due to the pandemic, imports have been decreased to roughly 13 million tonnes in the last two marketing years (November to October). “Imports fell to 13.2 million tonnes worth at Rs 71,600 crore in 2019-20. Due to an increase in worldwide edible oil prices, India’s import bill increased by 63 percent in 2020-21, reaching an alarming sum of Rs 1.17 lakh billion “Last month, SEA stated.