India left base import prices for palm and soya oils unchanged on Friday ahead of an expected pick-up in demand with the start of a season of festivals, extending a year-long freeze designed to help contain inflation.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs said there had been no change to the base prices, which are used to calculate tariffs importers have to pay irrespective of the prices at which they purchased oils. This is done to prevent underinvoicing. The base price for crude palm oil remained at $447 per tonne and for crude soyabean oil it was left at $580 per tonne. India, the worlds leading buyer of edible oils, import palm oils from Malaysia and Indonesia and soya oils from Argentina and Brazil.