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India on Thursday ruled that duty-free imports of soybean oil and sunflower oil shipped before March 31 will be allowed until the end of June, after cargoes were stranded at ports due to confusion over import rules. .
Earlier this year, the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils scrapped a duty-free import quota of 2 million tonnes of crude sunflower oil and soybean oil for this fiscal year starting April 1.
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The move held up about 90,000 tonnes at Indian ports and another 180,000 tonnes in transit that were loaded before the government's March 31 deadline, traders said.
“Some shipments have been stuck at ports in recent weeks and can now enter the country following this clarification,” said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil broker and consultancy firm.
India imports soybean oil mainly from Argentina, Brazil and the United States and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine.
The government's notification will give relief to importers, but imports will reduce local oilseed prices and reduce farmers' income, said BV Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors Association of India.
India's palm oil imports in May may fall as the move will increase the availability of soybean and sunflower oil, said a New Delhi-based trader with a global trading house.
India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Palm oil imports in April fell 30% from the previous month, hitting a 14-month low, as the premium over rival light oils prompted price-sensitive buyers to switch to sunflower and soybean oils, five traders said to Reuters last week.
Source: Rajendra Jadhav | Notícias Agrícolas
