Agriculture News: There will be relief from inflation, edible oil is going to become cheaper

Agriculture News: Edible oil prices may fall in the coming weeks. This is due to lower costs from refiners to customers. Edible oil prices fell in the first half of 2025 due to rising global prices and currency depreciation.

The government will cut custom duty on May 30 as the prices of edible oils are likely to come down. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has also directed edible oil companies to update price to distributor (PTD) rates weekly and reduce maximum retail price (MRP).

The downward trend in retail prices of edible oil will intensify 

The report said food inflation fell to 2.8% in May and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a stronger-than-normal monsoon. These developments are collectively expected to accelerate the downward trend in retail edible oil prices.

Basic customs duty reduced by 10% 

The report said that the increase in the duty difference between crude edible oils and refined edible oils will also increase the competition of domestic refiners. 

Now the basic custom duty on crude palm oil has been reduced to 10%, while the custom duty on refined edible oils remains stable at 32.5%. This has increased the difference in custom duty between crude and refined edible oils from 8.25% to 19.25%.

Key players are expected to benefit from the revised custom duty structure as it will allow refiners to give more preference to crude edible oil imports rather than refined oils. This will increase capacity utilization and improve domestic processes, thereby boosting refining margins.

India is the largest importer of edible oils in the world

India is the largest importer of edible oils in the world. 55–60% of the country's requirements are imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. India imported 15.96 million tonnes of edible oil in 2023–24. Palm oil accounted for 55% of this, while sunflower and soybean accounted for the rest.