General  Characteristics 
Castor oil is used as a raw material in the manufacture of a number of chemicals used in the manufacture of surfactants, specialty soaps, surface coatings, cosmetics and personal care products, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, plasticisers, greases and lubricants, and specialty rubber etc.

Indian Scenario

• India is the world leader in castor seed and oil production and dominates the international castor oil trade. 
• The Indian variety of castor has 48 % oil content of which 42% can be extracted, while the cake retains the rest. 
• India's castor oil production fluctuates between 2.5-3.5 lakh tons a year. In 2003-04, India's estimated castor oil production was 2.8 lakh tons. 
• Gujarat accounts for 86% of India's castor seed production followed by Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. Castor is mainly grown in Mehsana, Banaskantha and Saurashtra/Kutch regions of Gujarat and Nalgonda and Mahboobnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh. 
• Castor is a Kharif crop. The sowing season of castor is from July to October and the harvesting season is from October to April.
• The annual domestic consumption of castor oil in India is only about 80,000-1,00,000 tons. Of this, the soap industry consumes about 25,000 tons, the paint and allied industries 35,000 tons and the lubricant and derivatives industry 20,000 tons.
• India annually exports around 2.0 - 2.4 lakh tons of commercial castor oil. From India castor oil is exported in two forms - First Special Grade and Castor Oil Commercial through mainly Kandla port. There is a large scope for improving India's earning from castor by converting the castor oil to various derivatives.
• A considerable quantity of the castor oil is also used in adulteration of edible oils like groundnut oil due to price differential.

Major Trading Centres
The major castor oil markets in Gujarat are Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Gondal, Gadwal, Bhabar, and in Andhra Pradesh are Jedcherla and Yemignoor.

World Scenario
India is the leading producer of castor oil in the world, followed by China and Brazil with 0.8 and 0.4 lakh tons respectively. The present annual world trade in castor oil is estimated at about 2.0 - 2.50 lakh tons. The major importers of castor oil in the world market are European Union, US and Japan. The world demand for castor oil is estimated to be growing at the rate of about 3 to 5 % per annum. Both Brazil and China have experienced a steady increase in their domestic castor oil consumption in the recent years and thus utilize almost their entire production. India consumes only a quarter of its castor oil production and exports the rest.  

Market Influencing Factors

• Variations in castor seed domestic acreage based on yield and price realization.
• Crop development based on monsoon progress in key growing regions.
• Chinese and Brazilian crop size . 
• Comparative price with other vegetable oils in the domestic market. 
• Upcountry demand of castor oil from the major cities, Export demand of castor oil from US, Europe and Japan . 
• The castor seed price tends to firm up during the planting period and eases down during the harvesting period. Prices tend to show inter-seasonal variation of almost Rs 200 - Rs 350 per quintal. 
• Castor seed growers and crushers hoard the commodity before selling in expectation of better prices. Castor oil too can be kept in containers without spoilage for long period.