Kathmandu, May 23: Exports of soybean and sunflower oil have established a record for improving our foreign trade index but the fact is that exports of such products have become possible after importing them from the international market.

Exports of such products have significantly contributed to making Nepal's exports the highest ever. The data shows that the import of raw oil necessary for making soybean and sunflower oil has exceeded the export of processed oil by 17 billion rupees.

According to the Customs Department, in the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2081/82, Nepal exported soybean oil worth 78.75 billion rupees. During the same period, the department's data shows that Nepal has imported crude soybean oil worth 81.89 billion rupees.

It appears that more than three billion rupees worth of raw oil were exported for the processed soybean oil. The data shows that the processed soybean oil from Nepal is only exported to India. However, raw soybean oil is imported from countries like Argentina, Benin, Brazil, China, Iraq, Paraguay, Thailand, Togo, and Ukraine.

In the list of the most exported items from Nepal, the import of crude sunflower oil is much higher than that of sunflower oil. According to the department, in 10 months, Nepal exported sunflower oil worth 10 billion 9 crore rupees, while crude sunflower oil worth 24 billion 64 crore rupees was imported.

This also shows that more than 14 billion rupees worth of raw sunflower oil has been imported compared to the sunflower oil exported from Nepal. Like soybean oil, the market for sunflower oil is also only in India. According to the department's statistics, raw sunflower oil is imported from Argentina, India, Romania, and Ukraine.

With a surge in the export of refined soybean oil and sunflower oil, the department released data on Wednesday showing that Nepal has recorded its highest export in the current fiscal year's 10 months. According to the department, Nepal has exported goods worth 217.91 billion rupees in 10 months (up to Baishakh), which is 72.71 percent more than the same period last fiscal year.

Until the end of the last fiscal year, Nepal had exported goods worth 126 billion 17 crore rupees. Under the SAFTA agreement, Nepal is allowed to use zero customs duty when exporting to India. With the increasing demand for soybean and sunflower oil in India, the trend of importing crude oil, processing it in Nepal, and then exporting it is on the rise. Previously, when Nepal imported crude palm oil, which was not produced in the country, and exported it, it significantly boosted Nepal's overall export trade.

People’s News Monitoring Service.