India's vegetable oil imports decline 6th straight month to 11.87 lakh tonnes in May

India's vegetable oil imports fell for the sixth consecutive month by 22.36 per cent to 11.87 lakh tonnes in May from a year earlier, industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said on Thursday, asserting the recent import duty cut will not impact the overall volumes.

- AGENCIES

Total vegetable oils, comprising both edible and non-edible oils, stood at 15.29 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

During the first seven months of the 2024-25 oil year (November-October), total vegetable oil imports decreased to 78.84 lakh tonnes, from 86.78 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period a year earlier.

On May 30, the government reduced the basic import duty on palm, soybean and sunflower oils to 10 per cent from 20 per cent, effectively reducing the total import duty from 27.5 per cent to 16.5 per cent.