India increases sunflower oil purchases

India in March purchased the highest volume of vegetable oils for the last 6 months – 1.149 million tons (+18.7% compared to the level of February). This was reported to Reuters by market participants.

According to their estimates, the country imported 448,000 tons of sunflower oil in the reporting period, which is the second highest in the history of observations. Palm oil imports, on the contrary, fell to the minimum since May last year – 481 thousand tons. Soybean oil shipments in March were up 27% from the previous month to 220,000 tons.

“Sunflower oil prices are very competitive, which will ensure import growth even in April-May,” said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research.

According to market participants, the cost of crude palm oil (CPO) imports into India for delivery in May is around $1020 per tonne including cost, insurance and freight (CIF), while soybean oil and sunflower oil are priced at $1000 and $960 per tonne, respectively.

The major suppliers of palm oil to India are Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Soybean oil is predominantly purchased by traders from Argentina and Brazil. Sunflower oil is purchased from Ukraine and Russia.

Tags: India, sunflower oil, prices