Commodity News
HeadLine : Edible oils demand hit by surging prices: SEA chief
Date : Sep 24 2021
Inspite of the slow increase in the demand from HoReCa (hotels, restaurants and catering) for edible oils, the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India is of the view that the import of vegetable oils will be below 15 million tonnes for the second consecutive year during the current oil year 2020-21 (November-October).  Addressing the members of SEA of India at its 50th annual general meeting (AGM) in Goa on Thursday, Atul Chaturvedi, President of SEA of India, said the import of edible oils may be closer to 13.4 mt during the oil year 2020-21 against 13.17 mt in the previous year. He said this has been largely due to subdued demand caused by higher prices and Covid-related demand destruction. He said the country’s imports are likely to fall below 15 mt for the second consecutive year due to unprecedented high prices of vegetable oils in the international market. On the government’s plans to renegotiate free trade agreements (FTA) and bilateral trade agreements, he said that it is important for the Indian vegetable oil industry to actively participate in the process to safeguard legitimate interests of the industry and correct the anomalies that have inadvertently crept into the earlier agreements. On the vegetable oil imports front, the SEA said there is a cap on import duty that can be levied by the importing country. In the same way, the trade agreements should have similar restrictions and regulations on the export duty and levies to have a level-playing field.

Source: Business Line

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