India reduced sunflower oil imports by 21% to 288 thsd tons in August

India’s palm oil imports fell by more than a quarter in August from the previous month due to high inventories and negative margins that prompted refiners to cut purchases of the tropical oil, several dealers told Reuters on Tuesday. They estimated palm oil imports in August fell 27 percent from the previous month to 791,000 tons.

Reduced purchases by the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oils could lead to higher palm oil stocks at major producers Indonesia and Malaysia, putting pressure on benchmark CPO futures.

“In July, imports significantly exceeded local requirements, so refiners have reduced imports this month,” said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage. “Moreover, after the recent rise in palm oil prices, palm oil has become as expensive as soybean oil, which has not created any incentive to buy palm oil,” he added.

According to Rajesh Patel, managing partner at edible oil trading firm GGN Research, palm oil refining margins turned negative in August, prompting buyers to reduce purchases.

Meanwhile, soybean oil imports for the month rose 16% to 456,000 tons, the highest in two years. Local rapeseed oil prices have risen more than 8% over the past month, prompting some processors to blend rapeseed oil with comparatively cheaper soybean oil.
Sunflower oil imports fell 21% to 288,000 tons in August.

Dealers said the fall in palm and sunflower oil imports led to a 17% drop in the country’s total edible oil imports to 1.53 million tons.

India is considering raising import duties on edible oils to protect farmers hit by low oilseed prices.

India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Industry body Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) is likely to release its import data for August by mid-September.

India’s vegetable oil imports rose 18% to 1.9 million tons in July, the second highest on record. Sunflower oil imports rose 14% to 367,000 tons, with Russia supplying the largest volume at 190,000 tons

Tags: sunflower oil, soybean oil, India, palm oil, imports