Rising prices of edible oil seem to be burning deep holes in the pockets of consumers for the past two to three months. The prices of various varieties of edible oil including groundnut oil, soyabean oil, palm oil and sunflower oil have registered hike of about 15 to 20 per cent over the period. On Friday, price of groundnut oil was hovering at a level of Rs 2,325 to Rs 2,350 per tin of 15 kg; soyabean oil at Rs 1,800 to Rs 1,825 per tin of 15 kg; palm oil at Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,725 per tin of 15 kg; and sunflower oil at Rs 1,800 to Rs 1,850 per tin of 15 liter in the wholesale market in the city.

 

President of Oil Merchants Association Nagpur Rajesh Thakker while talking to The Hitavada attributed the hike in prices to various international parameters. He said that the prices are likely to witness marginal hike in coming days. “The trende will continue till January-February after which we may see prices coming down,” he observed.

 

“Right now the prices are flying high in the international markets and its reflection is seen here because India is one of the major edible oil consumer nations which imports about 65 per cent of its total requirement,” he said. He said that China is aggressively buying edible oil from the international markets and thus there is a huge demand for  the commodity. “On the other hand, it seems that the supply of edible oil from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil and the United States of America has dipped,” he said.

 

In addition to this, the soyabean crop in the country has also posted 10 to 15 per cent fall in the current season due to unseasonal rains. Moreover, the climatic conditions have also affected the oil yielding capacity of the seeds. As per the oil extracting units, the yield has gone down by about 10-15 per cent in the current season which has further disturbed the domestic availability of edible oils.

 

Further, Thakker said that the high range of the Import Duty of edible oils (nearly 40 per cent) in India is another reason for inflated prices. “We want the Government to bring down the duty and give some relief to the consumers,” he said.