Indian edible oil imports duty likely to fall on huge supply

Edible oil imports by India, the world's largest buyer, are expected to dip in May and June with rising domestic supplies and steady prices of local oils, traders said on Friday.
They said imports would be sharply lower than the same period last year when the oilseeds output was hit by a severe drought after poor rains.
"Our purchases for the first half of May are very low and the second half will also be the same," said Govindbhai Patel, a leading groundnut oil trader in Gujarat.
Traders said importers had stopped fresh bookings in April for soy oil and slowed palm oil purchases following a pile-up at ports and rising domestic supply.
"I see imports in May and June at around 250,000 tonnes a month, with the bulk of it being palm oil purchases," said Patel.
He estimated April arrivals at 225,000 tonnes. Last year India imported 725,000 tonnes of edible oil in May and 536,000 tonnes in June as local supplies dried up.
Patel said domestic oils availability in May was expected to be around 680,000 tonnes, compared with 350,000 tonnes last year while local oils in the market in June should be around 600,000 tonnes, almost double that in June last year.
The oilseeds output for the whole year to October has been estimated at 24.98 million tonnes, up from 15.1 million tonnes a year ago.
Harvesting of the summer mustard crop has led to stability in domestic oil prices, making imported oils less attractive, traders said.
"Edible oil prices are more or less stable because of pressure from domestic oils like mustard and sunflower," Sat Narayan Aggarwal, a New Delhi trader, said.
Traders said mustard oil was being quoted at 40,100 rupees a tonne while groundnut oil was being sold at 46,000 rupees a tonne. Palmolein was being traded at 42,700 a tonne. "These rates have been maintained over the last one month and since domestic supplies are good I don't see any pressure on prices or imports," said Patel.
India's imports in the year to October are likely to drop to around 4.3 million tonnes from 5.1 million tonnes a year ago.