25.02.2020 (Cogencis) - NEW DELHI – India is expected to import around 100,000 tn of refined bleached and deodorised palmolein in March, market participants said. Imports of the commodity were largely negligible in February.

Imports are expected to surge in March after the government, late last week, gave permission to import around 1.1 mln tn refined variants of palm oil in a year, after putting the same into the restricted category on Jan 8.

"The entire 1.1 mln tn (of refined palm oil) cannot be imported in a month. The pace of imports would be slow as the licences formalities will take time," Sunvin Group Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Bajoria said.  

Most of the refined palm oil will come from Indonesia, the world's largest producer, and some small quantity is expected from Nepal and Bangladesh, Bajoria said.

Of the permitted 1.1 mln tn imports, around half-a-mln-tn of refined palm oil is expected from Nepal and Bangladesh, a government official said. Imports of over 40,000-50,000 tn of refined edible oil from Nepal and Bangladesh are expected in March, traders said.

Crude palm oil prices are already down, and permission for such hefty imports of refined palm oil would not only hurt local refiners, but also weigh on prices of the tropical oil in domestic markets, an official with an India-based edible oil firm said.

Imports of refined palm oil fell in January after the government's restrictions, traders said.

Refined bleached deodorised palmolein imports in January declined 70% on year to 49,634 tn, data from The Solvent Extractors' Association of India showed.

The government imposed restrictions on refined edible oil imports early January to safeguard interests of domestic refiners.

A narrow duty gap with crude palm oil supported huge inflows of refined palm oil before the restriction.

Prices may further fall by $25 a tn from current $685 per tn in coming weeks, traders said.  

India is the world's largest importer of edible oil, and palm oil accounts for 60% of total annual imports of 15 mln tn.

Of the total imported 9.4 mln tn palm oil in 2018-19 (Nov-Oct), refined palm oil accounts for around 30% of share.

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