India's July palm oil imports hit 7-month high as refiners boost purchases
14.08.2023 (Reuters) - MUMBAI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports in July jumped 59% from the previous month to 1.08 million metric tons, the highest in seven months, as refiners took advantage of lower prices to increase purchases, a trade body said on Monday.
Higher imports by India, the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils, would help top producers Malaysia and Indonesia bring down stocks and support Malaysian prices .
Imports of soyoil fell by around 22% to 342,270 tons and those of sunflower oil were up 71% at 327,259 tons, the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.
India's edible oil imports in July rose to a record 1.76 million tons as refiners built up stocks for upcoming festivals given uncertainty over supplies from the Black Sea, dealers said.
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The discount of crude palm oil prices to crude soyoil widened to over $150 per ton, prompting refiners to switch to palm oil, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.
"This trend would continue even in coming months. We are expecting around 1 million tons of imports in September," the dealer said.
The country's total edible oil imports in the 2022/23 marketing year ending on Oct. 31 could jump to a record 15.5 million tons, the SEA said in a statement.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise