25/09/2007 (The Economic Times), NEW DELHI - National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), which has so far imported 40,000 tons of edible oil, will keep a track of international prices before deciding on further imports.

"We have so far contracted import of 40,000 tons of crude palm oil (CPO) and soya oil, out of which 9,000 tons are degummed soya oil," NAFED Managing Director Alok Ranjan told reporters here today.

He said the international prices of edible oil have firmed up in last few days after being stable for quite sometime. The prices of CPO have increased by 6.18 per cent in the last one month while the increase in soya oil is 8.59 per cent. The price of crude soy oil is $859 per tonne while that of CPO is $790 a tonne.

Ranjan said output of both soyabean and groundnut is expected to be more this year making larger availability for crushing. However, the country will still need to import about 50 lakh tons this year, he added.

The NAFED MD denied any plan for retail sale of imported edible oils saying "it is not a priority for us".

Meanwhile, the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) is scheduled to meet today to take stock of the situation on edible oil prices and oilseeds production in the country.

According to the first advance estimate released by the Agriculture Ministry, oilseeds production, which declined last year, is likely to go up by about 16 per cent at 16.13 million tons in kharif 2007, compared to 13.94 million tons a year-ago.

Groundnut production is pegged at 5.18 million tons while soyabean at 9.04 million tons.