look news india
Mumbai: India's palm oil imports rose to a four-month high in May and rose 11.60 per cent over April as it became cheaper than other edible oils, registering a 74 per cent jump in imports year-on-year, according to Solvent Extractors Association (SOAA) data.
The country's palm oil imports stood at 7,63,300 tonnes in May, the highest since January of the current year.
As palm oil is available cheaper than other edible oils in the world market, its import has increased by Indian importers.
India is the largest importer of vegetable oil in the world. Malaysian palm oil futures are getting support due to the increase in India's imports. At the same time, soybean oil imports have decreased by 16 percent while sunflower oil imports have increased by 75 percent.
C data also showed that total vegetable oil imports rose 16 per cent to 1.5 million tonnes. Soybean oil prices have risen recently due to supply disruptions in Argentina and Brazil.
Sources also said that sunflower oil prices have seen a surge due to supply disruptions through the Red Sea.
Crude palm oil is priced at around $950 a tonne, while soya oil and sunflower are priced at $1,000 and $985 a tonne, respectively.
As palm oil is getting cheaper, domestic traders expect its imports to remain high in June as well. While soybean oil purchases are likely to decline. India mainly buys palm oil from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
