MARKET DEVELOPMENT
PREVIEW-India\'s July Refined Palm Oil Imports Expected To Fall For Second Month
PREVIEW-India\'s July Refined Palm Oil Imports Expected To Fall For Second Month
13/08/2013 (Reuters) - India's imports of refined palm oil fell for the second month in July as weakness in the rupee currency made overseas purchases dearer despite lower prices, a Reuters survey showed on Monday.
The world's leading buyer of vegetable oils was expected to have imported 26.5 percent less of the refined variant in July at 217,628 tonnes, the average of a survey of seven traders showed, in a range between 200,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes.
Imports of refined palm oil hit a record in May, jumping 47.5 percent to 373,837 tonnes over the April figure.
The rupee lost 1.7 percent of its value against the dollar in July, its third straight month of losses.
"Weak value of the rupee continued to make palm oil imports costlier," said Sat Narain Agarwal, a Delhi-based trader.
Higher costs reduced total palm oil imports by 15 percent to 570,143 tonnes from the previous month, the survey showed.
Last month, imported refined palm oil averaged $810 per tonne on the country's west coast, while the delivered price for crude palm oil was $806 per tonne. The palm spread shrank to around $4 per tonne, lower than $10 per tonne in the previous month.
Imports of all vegetable oil, including non-edible oil, eased 6.4 percent to 886,857 tonnes in July. But soyoil imports rose as local supplies were almost exhausted during the soybean planting season.
In India, soybean is the main summer season oilseed crop which is planted in June-July with progress of the monsoon rains over the growing areas of central and western India.
Soyoil imports may have risen by about a half from a month earlier, as global prices eased due to a better production outlook for the soybean crop in Latin America.
On the Mumbai port, imported crude soyoil averaged $955 per tonne in July, down $62 per tonne from the previous month.
Traders also said a huge price gap with soyoil led to a drop in sunflower imports last month. In July, imported sunflower oil was quoted around $1,192 per tonne on the west cost.
India buys mainly palm oils from Malaysia and Indonesia and a small quantity of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.
It imports about 60 percent of its cooking oil demand of 17-18 million tonnes, with palm oil's share at about 80 percent. In the oil marketing year to Oct. 31, 2013, cooking oil imports could rise 10 percent on the year to 11 million tonnes.
"In August, imports could be around 835,000 tonnes as the weakness in the Indian currency continues," said K.K. Goel, a Delhi-based trader.
The survey showed estimated stocks at Indian ports at the end of July had risen 11 percent to an average of 683,333 tonnes from June, as domestic demand eased after the peak period of the Muslim festival of Ramadan was over.
The world's leading buyer of vegetable oils was expected to have imported 26.5 percent less of the refined variant in July at 217,628 tonnes, the average of a survey of seven traders showed, in a range between 200,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes.
Imports of refined palm oil hit a record in May, jumping 47.5 percent to 373,837 tonnes over the April figure.
The rupee lost 1.7 percent of its value against the dollar in July, its third straight month of losses.
"Weak value of the rupee continued to make palm oil imports costlier," said Sat Narain Agarwal, a Delhi-based trader.
Higher costs reduced total palm oil imports by 15 percent to 570,143 tonnes from the previous month, the survey showed.
Last month, imported refined palm oil averaged $810 per tonne on the country's west coast, while the delivered price for crude palm oil was $806 per tonne. The palm spread shrank to around $4 per tonne, lower than $10 per tonne in the previous month.
Imports of all vegetable oil, including non-edible oil, eased 6.4 percent to 886,857 tonnes in July. But soyoil imports rose as local supplies were almost exhausted during the soybean planting season.
In India, soybean is the main summer season oilseed crop which is planted in June-July with progress of the monsoon rains over the growing areas of central and western India.
Soyoil imports may have risen by about a half from a month earlier, as global prices eased due to a better production outlook for the soybean crop in Latin America.
On the Mumbai port, imported crude soyoil averaged $955 per tonne in July, down $62 per tonne from the previous month.
Traders also said a huge price gap with soyoil led to a drop in sunflower imports last month. In July, imported sunflower oil was quoted around $1,192 per tonne on the west cost.
India buys mainly palm oils from Malaysia and Indonesia and a small quantity of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.
It imports about 60 percent of its cooking oil demand of 17-18 million tonnes, with palm oil's share at about 80 percent. In the oil marketing year to Oct. 31, 2013, cooking oil imports could rise 10 percent on the year to 11 million tonnes.
"In August, imports could be around 835,000 tonnes as the weakness in the Indian currency continues," said K.K. Goel, a Delhi-based trader.
The survey showed estimated stocks at Indian ports at the end of July had risen 11 percent to an average of 683,333 tonnes from June, as domestic demand eased after the peak period of the Muslim festival of Ramadan was over.