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The deepening war crisis between America-Iran and Israel-Iran, skyrocketing prices of crude oil and weakness of the rupee against the dollar have created turmoil in the Indian markets. Its first and direct impact is on our everyday edible oil. In the last few days, an increase of Rs 3 to 5 per liter (about 5 percent) has been recorded in the prices of edible oils. Due to global tension, the supply chain has been disrupted, due to which the cost of freight transportation has increased. In such a situation, the prices of sunflower, soybean, palm oil and blended oils are increasing rapidly.

War across the seven seas, impact on your plate

The cost of imports has increased due to the cost of crude oil in foreign markets and the weakening of the rupee in the currency market. Traders are clearly saying that concerns regarding supply have deepened. Due to the war, the risk on international routes has increased, due to which there has been a huge increase in freight charges. For this reason, oil prices have suddenly started increasing within the country. Along with sunflower and soybean oil, palm oil, which is widely used in common households, has been hit the hardest by this inflation.

Excessive dependence on imports poses a challenge

The consumption of edible oil in India is very huge, but our domestic production is very less in that proportion. If we take the example of sunflower oil, its largest producer state in the country is Karnataka. Apart from this, it is also produced in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. But this production is insufficient to meet the total demand of the country. This is the reason why India has to import a large part of its needs from countries like Ukraine, Russia, Argentina and Bulgaria. The circumstances of the current global war have put a brake on the pace of imports coming from these countries. When there is a hindrance in the arrival of goods from abroad, the prices in the domestic market automatically start rising.

Rates changed within a week

The effect of this inflation is fully visible in the market. After the states of South India, especially Kerala, now the prices of sunflower oil have increased rapidly in other places also. Just a week before the war situation escalated, sunflower oil which was being sold at Rs 161 per liter in the retail market of Bengaluru, has reached Rs 165 today. This increase is not limited to the products of any particular company, rather oils of all the brands present in the market have become expensive. Along with this, blended oils prepared by mixing oils like sunflower and rice bran have also not remained untouched. The prices of popular blended oils like Saffola Gold have also increased. Market experts and traders have warned that if the global situation does not improve soon, the prices of sunflower and blended oils may increase by Rs 10 to 15 per liter in the coming days.