India cuts CPO import duties

India cuts CPO import duties

India, Asia's second-biggest vegetable oil importer, cut benchmark import prices for crude palm oil and palmolein, in line with a fall in international prices of the commodity.

India cut benchmark crude palm oil import price by US$26 a metric ton to $397 and crude palmolein import price by $18 a ton to $414, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said today, citing a notification from the finance ministry.

The cut will effectively lower import duties on the product making shipments cheaper from Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's biggest producers of the cooking oil.

The benchmark, based on which the government charges import duty, was introduced to prevent traders from paying lower import duties by understating edible oil prices.

The benchmark import price of refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil was cut by $11 a ton to $418, the statement said. -- Bloomberg