Tag: imports

Vegetable oil imports fall 13% to nearly 9.12 lakh tonne in April: SEA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Imports of vegetable oils, comprising edible and non-edible oils, fell 13 percent to nearly 9.12 lakh tonne during April, according to industry data. The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said in a statement that the import of vegetable oils stood at 9,11,846 tonne in April 2022 compared to 10,53,347 tonne in April 2021.

The import of edible oils fell to 9,00,085 tonne from 10,29,912 tonne, while shipments of non-edible oils declined to 11,761 tonne from 23,435 tonne. Oil marketing year runs from November to October.

Imports of vegetable oils during the first six months of this oil marketing year (November 2021 to April 2022) rose 4 percent to 67,07,574 tonne. It was 64,28,350 tonne in the corresponding period of the previous marketing year.

“Indonesia has banned the export of palm oil with effect from April 28, 2022, which has queered the pitch and made life difficult for hapless consumers across the world,” SEA said in a statement. India imports about 6,00,000-6,50,000 tonne of palm oil per month from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and other countries.

Out of which, Indonesia supplies about 3,00,000 tonne, mainly RBD Palmolein, and a similar quantity arrives from Malaysia and the remaining 10 percent from Thailand and other countries. “It is expected, that Indonesia may lift the ban before the end of May, however, the situation will turn ugly if Indonesia continues to ban the export of palm oil products as enough supply from other origins is not available,” SEA said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s exports jump 30.7% in April; trade deficit widens to $20.11 bn

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s merchandise exports surged 30.7 percent to USD 40.19 billion in April on account of healthy performance by sectors like petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals, even as trade deficit widened to USD 20.11 billion during the month, the commerce ministry said on Friday.

Imports during the month under review grew by 30.97 percent to USD 60.3 billion. The trade deficit in April 2021 was at USD 15.29 billion.

“After a record performance in the last financial year, the exports continued robust growth in April, 2022 with merchandise exports scaling a new high by crossing USD 40 billion,” it said.

Petroleum and crude oil imports during the month rose by 87.54 percent to USD 20.2 billion. Coal, Coke and Briquettes imports jumped to USD 4.93 billion, as against USD 2 billion in April 2021. Gold imports, however, dipped by about 72 percent to USD 1.72 billion during the month under review, from USD 6.23 billion in April 2021.

Engineering goods exports increased by 15.38 percent to USD 9.2 billion, while petroleum products exports soared 113.21 percent to USD 7.73 billion.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Citi ups India’s current account deficit forecast for FY23 to 2.8% as hike in commodity prices to raise import bill

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Citi Research has increased India’s current account deficit (CAD) forecast to 2.8 percent of GDP from 2.5 percent earlier for the financial year 2023 while it has raised the country’s balance of payments (BoP) deficit forecast to $18 billion from $7 billion earlier for FY23.

Current account deficit occurs when the total value of goods and services a country imports is more than the value of goods and services it exports. A balance of payments deficit is a country’s import of goods, services, and capital exceeding the export.

Citi said that the higher prices of coal, edible oil, fertilizers will raise import bill by $18-25 billion in FY23, leading to the increase in forecast of CAD and BoP deficit.

“Specifically on imports, price effect would be visible on commodities beyond oil and gold. We identify three products (edible oils, coal and fertilizers) where price pressure could add significant upside to the non-oil non-gold import bill,” said Citi in its report released on Tuesday.

“We see ~USD 18-25bn (0.5-0.7 percent of GDP) upside to import bill from these commodities in FY23. Consequently, we now expect FY23 current account deficit at 2.8 percent of GDP (vs 2.5 percent earlier) and BoP deficit of USD18bn in FY23 (vs USD 7bn earlier),” it added.

In FY22, price rise and volume had contributed to import and export growth, Citi mentioned, adding that lately, volumes have been moderating while price spike is becoming prime driver of nominal imports.

“Volume growth of non-petroleum exports fell to 7.6 percent YoY in Feb this year from a recent peak of 9.4 percent YoY in Nov-21,” the report said. “This implies that export volume growth had started to taper off even before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On the other hand, growth in deflators for non-petroleum exports rose to 18.5 percent in Feb from 16.1 percent YoY in Nov-21,” it added. 

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According to Citi, the recent trend of falling export volume growth will gather momentum as global demand comes under pressure.

“Our global economists have reduced our 2022 global growth forecast by -0.6pp to 3.3 percent and our 2023 forecast by -0.1pp to 3.1 percent,” it said. Moreover, Citi economists further believe that the Omicron wave in China will significantly affect growth in 2QCY22.

It, however, added that while volume growth would moderate going forward, prices are marching upwards. “So, despite moderate volumes, nominal export growth is likely to remain healthy in FY23 due to higher prices,” said Citi.

Also Read | Exports witness a growth of 37% to $18.8 billion in April
 

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Vegetable oil imports up 13% to over 11 lakh tonnes in March: SEA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Vegetable oil imports rose 13 percent in March to over 11 lakh tonnes on higher shipments of edible oil, according to industry data. Import of vegetable oils (comprising edible oil and non-edible oil) in March 2022 stood at 11,04,570 tonnes as compared to 9,80,243 tonnes in March 2021, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, said.

While edible oil imports increased to 10,51,698 tonnes in March 2022 from 9,57,633 tonnes in the year-ago period, the imports of non-edible oil rose to 52,872 tonnes from 22,610 tonnes during the period under review. The overall import of vegetable oils during first five months of oil year 2021-22, November 2021-March 2022, reported at 57,95,728 tonnes compared to 53,75,003 tonnes during the same period of last year.

During the first five months of 2021-22 oil year, the import of refined edible oil jumped sharply to 7,71,268 tonnes from 24,101 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Also read: Commodities round-up: Crude oil prices rebound 7% overnight

The imports of crude edible oil fell to 48,71,650 tonnes from 52,16,225 tonnes. “During November 2021-March 2022, palm oil import has decreased to 26,53,253 tonnes from 30,90,559 tonnes in November 2020-March 2021, while soft oil import has increased to 29,89,665 tonnes from 21,49,767 tonnes in November 2020-March 2021, mainly due to higher import of soybean oil,” SEA said.

The association said during the last month, 2,12,000 tonnes of sunflower oil arrived as vessels, which left before conflict between Russia and Ukraine arrived in India. The imports came mainly from Ukraine (1,27,000 tonnes), Russia (73,500 tonnes) and Argentina (11,900 tonnes). “However in April ’22 as no shipment from Ukraine took place, sunflower oil import may fall to nearly 80,000 tonnes, mainly arriving from Russia and Argentina only,” it said.

High prices of sunflower oil in international market at USD 2,200 per tonne and lesser availability has resulted in lower demand and consumption of sunflower oil. “This shortfall partially being replaced by other edible oils like palmolein, soybean oil, groundnut oil in South India and by refined mustard oil and ricebran oil in North India. Also during the last one month, prices of soya oil, sunflower oil, palm oil and other edible oil declined providing some relief to consumer,” SEA said.

Also read: Russia-Ukraine crisis to heat up cooking oil prices in India

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s trade deficit rises 88% in FY22: Govt data

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s trade deficit rose 87.5 percent to USD 192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against USD 102.63 billion in the previous year, the government data showed on Monday. While total exports during the last fiscal year increased to a record high of USD 417.81 billion, imports too soared to USD 610.22 billion, leaving a trade gap of USD 192.41 billion.

“India’s merchandise import in April 2021-March 2022 was USD 610.22 billion, an increase of 54.71 percent over USD 394.44 billion in April 2020-March 2021 and an increase of 28.55 percent over USD 474.71 billion in April 2019-March 2020,” said a release by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The trade deficit in March 2022 was USD 18.69 billion, while it was USD 192.41 billion during entire 2021-22.

For the first time, India’s monthly merchandise exports exceeded USD 40 billion, reaching USD 40.38 billion in March 2022, an increase of 14.53 percent over USD 35.26 billion in the year-ago month, the release said. It was up by 87.89 percent over USD 21.49 billion in March 2020.

The ministry said the country’s merchandise import last month stood at USD 59.07 billion, an increase of 20.79 percent over USD 48.90 billion in the year-ago period. It was up 87.68 percent over USD 31.47 billion in March 2020. During March 2022, the value of non-petroleum exports stood at USD 33 billion, registering a growth of 4.28 percent over USD 31.65 billion in the same month a year ago.

Non-petroleum exports grew by 74 percent from USD 18.97 billion in March 2020. Non-petroleum import stood at USD 40.66 billion during March 2022, showing a rise of 5.26 percent over USD 38.63 billion in the year-ago month. It was up by 89.79 percent from USD 21.42 billion in March 2020, showed the data from the ministry.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India imported 651.24 tonne of gold in fiscal 2020-21: Govt tells Lok Sabha

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India imported 651.24 tonne of gold in the financial year 2020-21 as compared to 719.94 tonne in the year-ago period, the government said on Wednesday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said the imports stood at 982.71 tonne in FY 2018-19.

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Replying to another question, she informed that the import of toys, games, sports equipment from China is showing a declining trend.

“The imports of these products from China have reduced from USD 451.71 million in 2018-19 to USD 206.11 million in 2021 (from April 2021 to Jan 2022),” she added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Centre sets up task force to figure out how to navigate rising fuel prices: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Centre has set up a task force of senior government officials to give recommendations on how to manage the rise in prices of petroleum products in India, reported Mint.

Prices of crude oil recently hit a 14-year record and are currently trading above $130 a barrel. For India, which is the world’s second biggest net crude oil importer, the upward trending prices are not only going to put pressure on the government, but also consumers and businesses. India imports nearly 85 percent of its crude requirement and around 55 percent of its natural gas requirement, making it a huge net importer of energy.

While the country has not yet seen a hike in its fuel prices, oil manufacturing companies are expected to hike their prices as the election results are declared.

The task force has been meeting regularly to review the developing situation and devising a way to insulate domestic consumers from increasing energy prices, a government official with knowledge of the matter told Mint.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri added on Tuesday that the price increase would be done keeping the interests of citizens in mind and denied that the government had not yet hiked fuel prices due to the elections in five states of the country.

“Oil prices are determined by global prices. There is a war-like situation in one part of the country. The oil companies will factor that in. We will take decisions in the best interest of our citizens,” he said in a press conference.

The task force will not only give recommendations on how to deal with higher fuel prices but also look for ways to set up alternative payment channels in response to many Russian banks being kicked out of the SWIFT information system.

The task force was instituted last month in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resultant global sanctions that were placed on Russia. The task force will convey its recommendations to all the relevant ministries and regulators, where upon approval they will be notified by the finance ministry.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow