Trends in the Direction of Trade of Castor Oil Exports from India

Abstract

India, the largest producer and exporter of castor oil in the world, is responsible for almost 83.65 percent of total global exports in this segment. The present study attempts to quantify the changing structure of Indian castor oil exports from 2009-10 to 2016-17 using first-order Markov chain approach. The results evidence that China, Netherland, USA and other countries were stable markets for India's castor oil, while Thailand, Brazil, and France were the unstable markets (quantity), whereas in value, U.K., China, Thailand, USA and other countries were the stable markets for India's castor oil, whereas Netherland, Brazil, U.K., and France were the unstable markets. India should not rely on China for its castor oil exports instead it should concentrate on other potential importers like Netherland, U.S.A., France, Japan, Thailand, Brazil and U.K. whose export share is expected to increase in future.