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Total vegetable oil imports jumped 22.2 per cent in July to 1.9 million tonnes | Image: Wikimedia commons
India’s palm oil and soyoil imports surged to their highest levels in about a year in July, as refiners increased purchases for upcoming festivals amid a correction in prices, a leading trade body said on Wednesday.
Higher palm oil purchases by the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oils will bring down inventories in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia and support benchmark futures, which are trading near their lowest level in seven months.
India’s palm oil imports rose more than 37 per cent in July from the previous month to about 1.1 million metric tonnes, the highest since August 2023 and in line with traders’ estimates, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said.
Imports of soyoil gained 42 per cent to 391,791 tonnes, the highest in 13 months, while sunflower oil imports fell 21.3 per cent to 366,541 tonnes, the SEA said in a statement.
Total vegetable oil imports jumped 22.2 per cent in July to 1.9 million tonnes, the second highest on record, the SEA said.
India on average has been importing 1.3 million tonnes of edible oil so far in the marketing year beginning November 2023.
Imports in July rose in anticipation of improved demand for the upcoming festival season, but the surge led to congestion at Kandla port, causing berthing delays of 8 to 10 days, the SEA said.
Higher imports lifted vegetable oil stocks in the country to 2.9 million tonnes, the highest in eight months, the trade body said.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Vegetable oil imports in August are likely to moderate to around 1.5 million tonnes as traders are curtailing purchases of palm oil and sunflower oil, a Mumbai-based trader said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Aug 14 2024 | 2:15 PM IS