India’s palm oil imports rose to their highest level in three months in April as lower prices lured buyers, while rival sunoil imports slipped, a leading trade body said on Tuesday.
Palm oil imports rose 40.9% in April from the previous month to stand at 684,094 metric tons, the highest since January, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.
Higher palm oil purchases by India, the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oils, could support the benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.
The contract hit a three-month low on May 10.
Crude palm oil’s (CPO) imports are offered at about $920 a metric ton, including cost, insurance and freight (CIF), in India for June delivery, while soyoil and sunflower oil are offered around $920 and $945 a ton, respectively, dealers told Reuters earlier this month.
Malaysian palm oil futures up on support from rival oils
Sunflower oil imports fell 47.3% to 234,801 tons while imports of soyoil rose 76.4% to 385,514 tons.
Higher imports of palm oil and soyoil lifted India’s total edible oil imports by 13% to 1.3 million tons, as per the data.
India purchases palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Comments