Context
- According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) palm oil imports in January dropped 45% from December to 275,241 metric tons, the lowest level since March 2011.
- This decline was primarily driven by refiners shifting to soya oil, which offered better refining margins.
- With palm oil becoming more expensive than soya oil and sunflower oil, refiners preferred the cheaper alternatives, leading to an increase in soya oil imports.
- Out of all the imported edible oils, the share of palm oil is about 56%, followed by soybean oil at 27%, and sunflower at 16%.
- India primarily imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, along with a small amount of crude soft oils, such as soybean oil, from Argentina. Sunflower oil is sourced from Ukraine and Russia.
About Palm oil
- Grown only in the tropics, it is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of the oil palm tree. It’s the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world.
- Oil palm trees are native to Africa but were brought to South-East Asia just over 100 years ago as an ornamental tree crop. Now, Indonesia and Malaysia make up over 85% of global supply.
- Globally, palm oil supplies 40% of the world’s vegetable oil demand on just under 6% of the land used to produce all vegetable oils.
- Palm oil is an extremely versatile oil that has many different properties and functions that makes it so useful and so widely used.
- Properties:
- Semi-solid at room temperature, keeping spreads spreadable.
- Resistant to oxidation, extending product shelf life.
- Stable at high temperatures, providing crispy and crunchy texture to fried products.
- Odourless and colourless, not altering the look or smell of food products.
- In India: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala are the major oil palm growing states, which accounts for 98% of the total production.
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat and Mizoram also have a sizable area under Oil palm cultivation.
- Recently Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland have also initiated Oil palm plantation programmes.