Bangladesh's export of rice bran oil to neighbouring India is set to double in 2020-21, according to Indian media report.
Bangladesh has already exported 60,000 tonnes to India during the April-October period compared with 75,000 tonnes during the entire 2019-20 fiscal year, the Economic Times reported on Sunday.
"With the peak season of rice bran processing starting post-Diwali - as it is the harvest season for paddy - we expect that total imports of rice bran oil during 2020-21 fiscal would stand at 0.15 million tonnes," BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India was quoted as saying.
The fiscal year in India spans between April 01 and March 31.
The report said unlike palm oil, which was earlier being re-routed into India via Bangladesh to avail of a duty advantage, rice bran oil originates in Bangladesh and is protected under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.
Rice bran oil is one of the fastest-growing categories among edible oils and their imports have been increasing over the past four years, the report said quoting industry officials and added that Bangladesh has even imposed duty on export of rice bran oil to India.
India produces about 1.0 million tonnes of rice bran oil, although output can go up to 1.6 million tonnes if all the rice bran available in the country (India) is used for this purpose, it said.
Indian rice bran processors in the eastern parts of the country cannot compete as the rice bran oil imports are coming from Bangladesh at zero import duty, Atul Chaturvedi, president of the SEA, told the media at a recent webinar.
Earlier, the SEA's complaints against cheaper palm oil entering the country via Bangladesh led to a halt of those imports with stricter enforcement of the laws, the report said adding that In India, rice bran oil is also used for blending with mustard oil, which is one of the most expensive edible oils there.
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