Palm oil imports by India, the
world’s biggest buyer, probably tumbled for a second month as
global prices jumped to the highest since 2012 and refiners
awaited supplies from the domestic rapeseed harvest.
Shipments of the main crude and refined oils fell 30% to 550,000 metric tons in February from a year earlier,
the median of estimates from five processors and brokers
compiled by Bloomberg show...
India
imports more than 50 percent of its cooking oil demand, shipping
palm from Indonesia and Malaysia, the top producers, and soybean
oil from the U.S., Brazil and Argentina.
Crude soybean oil imports probably jumped 60 percent to
100,000 tons in February from 62,585 tons a year earlier, while
sunflower oil purchases rose to 100,000 tons from 84,310 tons,
the survey shows.
Total vegetable oil imports, including for
industrial use, dropped 20 percent in February to 780,000 tons.
Its
discount to soybean oil narrowed to $93.27 a ton from an average
$195.29 in the past year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Cooking oil stockpiles at ports and due to arrive to India
probably totaled 1.35 million tons at the start of March from
1.52 million tons a month earlier, said Bajoria.
“Consumption should rise in the summer months.”
India may harvest 7.23 million tons of rapeseed, the main
oilseed grown in the winter season, up from 6.7 million tons
last year, the association said, citing estimates by the Central
Organization for Oil Industry Trade, on March 10.
Total
vegetable oil imports by India are seen at 11.2 million tons in
the year started Nov. 1, compared to 10.7 million tons a year
earlier, COOIT said.
Source: Bloomberg news