INDIA'S PALM OIL IMPORTS DROP 19.8 PCT IN JANUARY
From Shakir Husain
NEW DELHI, Feb 13 -- India's palm oil imports in January 2020 dropped 19.8 per cent from the previous month, resulting in a higher share of other edible oils in the country's purchases.
Imports from Malaysia comprised 125,735 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) and 10,484 tonnes of RBD (refined bleached deodorised) palmolein in the palm oil volume of 594,804 tonnes, according to data from trade group Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India on Thursday.
Palm oil's share was 51 per cent in January's total edible oil imports of about 1.15 million tonnes.
India imported 741,490 tonnes of palm oil, including 110,562 tonnes from Malaysia, in December, which was 67 per cent of its overall edible oil imports.
The Indian government on Jan 8 put refined palm oil under the "restricted" list of goods, requiring importers to seek permits before placing orders.
The Indian trade body said the Ministry of Commerce's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has since issued licences to import 88,000 tonnes of refined palmolein from Nepal at zero duty under the South Asian Free-Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.
Nepal does not produce palm oil but buys from the world's top producers, namely Indonesia and Malaysia, and then sells refined products to India after value addition as per the SAFTA rules.
-- BERNAMA
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