November 5: Soybean oil has replaced refined palm oil as the major export product of Nepal after India banned the import of palm oil some six months ago.

According to the data kept by the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), refined soybean oil has emerged as the main export product of Nepal in the first three months of the current fiscal year.

The export of soybean oil accounts for 24.5 percent of the total export of Nepal. Soybean oil is exported to India in large quantity because the product enjoys customs waiver facility.

During the last fiscal year, refined palm oil had topped the list of products exported from Nepal to India. Refined palm oil worth Rs 18.31 billion was exported to India in the fiscal year 2019/20. However, the export of palm oil to India came to a halt after the Foreign Trade Directorate of India scrapped the license of palm oil importers in the country.

In the first three months of the current fiscal year, the export of soybean oil has increased by 414 percent. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, Nepal had exported soybean oil worth Rs 1.47 billion. The export of the same product has gone up to Rs 7.6 billion in the review period of the current fiscal year.

Nepali industrialists increased production of soybean oil after India imposed a ban on it. The industrialists say that the export increases naturally once the production is increased.

Operator of Shree Ram Refinery Pradeep Muraraka says that there is high demand for soybean oil in India.

Nepali industries import soybean from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia and Ukraine and then refine the product to produce soybean oil. The refined oil is then sold to India.

The local industries have imported soybean worth Rs 8.13 billion in the first three months of the current fiscal year. The import of soybean during the corresponding period of last fiscal year was worth Rs 3.18 billion.