Wednesday's government move to lift import restrictions on refined palm oils until December 31st, 2018, could increase supply and lower prices.A notification from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, (DGFT) states that "import policy" of refined deodorised palm oils and refined bleached palmolein has been changed from restricted to "free with immediate effect and for a time up to December 31, 2021".However, it added that imports are not allowed through any port in Kerala.Importers must obtain a license or permission from DGFT to import goods into the restricted category.Tuesday's reduction of basic customs duty for crude palm oil by the government to 10% was announced by the government.Refined bleached, deodorised palm oils are made by refining crude palm oil.India is the largest importer of vegetable oil in the world, buying close to 15 million tonnes annually. Palm oil is 9 million tonnes, while the remaining 6 million tonne are soybean and sunflower oils.Two countries that supply palm oil are Indonesia and Malaysia.In the last year, domestic edible oil prices more than doubled. India imports about two-thirds its edible oil needs.According to data from SEA, India's palm oil imports increased by 48 percent to 7,69,602 tonne (May 2021), due to higher crude palm oil shipments.India was the largest buyer of vegetable oils in the world and had imported 4,00.506 tonnes palm oil in May 2020.In May 2021, India's total vegetable oil imports increased by 68% to Rs 12.49 Lakh tonne, as compared to 7.43 Lakh tonne the previous year.More than 60% of total vegetable oil imports to the country are made from palm oil.
