Import ban of palm oil through the Kochi port is unlikely to revive the fortunes of the coconut oil industry, traders said. Traders say that an additional impact of Rs 2-3 per kg of palm oil is unlikely to generate a huge shift into coconut oil. Interestingly, palm oil is currently retailing at a premium of Rs 10-12 per kg at the Kochi market. In the neighboring Tamil Nadu, coconut oil retails at a discount of Rs 4-5 per kg compared to the price in Kerala.
The Union government banned import through Kochi under pressure from the Coconut Development Board (CDB) to prop up the price of coconut oil as it dropped alarmingly in the last few months. Currently, it is the cheapest edible oil. Initially, CDB had asked for import ban through all south Indian port, which could have made the desired impact on the price.
Palm oil can be brought into Kerala through the neighboring port of Mangalore, Chennai or Tuticorin, Talat Mehamod, a trader at the Kochi market said. Talat and the traders in Kochi believe that the food industry and households in the state have conditioned themselves with the imported palm oil and a shifting into the native coconut oil is hard. ?Unorganised snacks and hotel industry prefer palm oil due to economic reasons. Lesser quantity of palm oil is absorbed compared to coconut oil and it can be reused,? Talat said.
Palm oil imports have also declined marginally given that its price has increased considerably in the last few years. During April-September of the current fiscal, only 30,000 tonne of palm oil was imported through the Kochi.