Sunflower oil price shoots up in Karnataka as war rages far way

Sunflower oil prices are steadily climbing in Karnataka, with the price of a litre having increased from Rs 130 to Rs 170 over the last one week on account of some panic buying.

Traders are citing supply chain disruptions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which meets most of India’s sunflower oil requirements, as the reason for the rising prices, and warned of further pain in coming days as the war rages on.

Officials in the Karnataka Oil Federation said the state is one of the biggest consumers of sunflower oil.

According to the Department of Food and Public Distribution, under the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, sunflower oil constitutes around 15% of all edible oil imports and is imported mainly from Ukraine.

“Karnataka consumes about 25,000-30,000 tonnes of sunflower oil per month. The shortage in supply has led to price rise,” an official said.

Grocery shops and even wholesale dealers said there is some panic buying over the last two days.

“Wholesale rates have jumped by Rs 40 per litre, however, it has not completely reflected on retail scales yet,” said Krishnam Sashidhar of Krishnam Oil Traders in Yelahanka.

In Malleswaram and Rajajinagar, owners of some grocery shops said they have run out of the 5 and 10 litre cans of sunflower oil.

“The price of a 5 litre can has shot up to Rs 800 from Rs 650 just two months ago, of which the increase of Rs 100 happened within the last one week. One litre packets cost Rs 170 instead of Rs 130 last week,” said Srinivas, who runs a provision store.

Officials at the Food and Civil Supplies Department held a meeting to understand the crisis and the measures needed to prevent hoarding.

“At the moment, there is no big shortage. We have already reduced the stock limits for wholesale and retail traders,” Additional Chief Secretary of the department Kapil Mohan told DH.

“But we suspect some traders are hoarding the oil to get better prices. Instructions have been given to conduct surprise checks and take action in case of violation.”

According to GC Reddy, Managing Director of The Karnataka Cooperative Oilseeds Growers Federation Limited, sunflower oil consumption in Bengaluru can go up to 900 tonnes per day.

“The oil comes into the country through the ports in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Mangaluru in our state and some other states. But ever since the war started, this supply has almost stopped, causing a jump in prices,” he said.

Most consumers are preferring to buy as much stock as possible at old prices.

“While the usual consumers are buying a litre or two extra, commercial customers like hotels are stocking up more cans as the prices are expected to shoot up further,” said a person who works at Byraveshwara Traders in Vidyaranyapura.

A cold-pressed oil manufacturer at Aishwarya Oil Mill in Kodigehalli said he had searching for “oil-seeds everywhere” but finding it has become a task in the last week.

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