Palm Oil is obtained from the Fresh Fruit Bunches of Oil Palm cultivated in plantations. There are several commercial variants of Palm Oil available viz., Crude Palm Oil, Crude Palmolein, RBD (Refined, Bleached, Deodorised) Palm Oil, RBD Palmolein and Palm Kernel Oil.
RBD Palm Olein is the liquid fraction obtained by the fractionation of Palm Oil after crystallisation at controlled temperatures. It is used in many countries as edible cooking oil. It is also used as an important raw material in the manufacture of soaps, washing powder and other hygiene and personal care products, margarine, shortening and oleo chemical industries.
India is one of the largest vegetable oil importers in the Asian continent, followed by China. Crude Palm Oil is the single largest commodity of India’s edible oil import basket. India is basically a net importer of Palm Oil. The country imported 9.425 million tonnes of Palm Oil in 2015- 16 according to the estimate of USDA.
India imports Crude Palm Oil mainly from Indonesia, while from Malaysia it imports mostly RBD Palmolein. Palm Oil imported into India is used in various forms- consumed directly as ‘Palm Oil’ after refining, used in the manufacture of Vanaspati, for blending with other vegetable oils, crude oil and kernel oil for industrial purposes, etc. The Indian Palm Oil market is largely organised and is in the hands of large refining companies.
Crude Palm oil is also traded at the Indian Commodity exchanges like National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd., Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd and National Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd.,