28/02/2005 - Supplies for a range of vegetable oils are set to improvethis year on stronger commodity yields and India cuts edible oil importsfor last month.

Industry group Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) reports thatimports, to include soybean and rapeseed oil, fell by 10 per cent lastmonth: dropping to 316,000 from 354,000 tonnes.

The January figures represent a sharp turnaround on the two previousmonths with figures for the period November 2004-January 2005, recording a9 per cent rise; 946,000 tonnes compared to 869,000 tonnes during the sameperiod in 2003-04.

On a global level, rape seed, palm oil, sunflower seed and soybean oil areall experiencing strong market growth as food makers continue to turn awayfrom animal fats in favour of vegetable alternatives.

Today, soybean and palm oil combined account for over half of all oilconsumed in the world.

After tight crops in 2003, soy oil has come in at 35 million tons for2004, offering some relief to prices, that in 2003, hit 15 year highs.Today, soy oil is selling for about $470 (€359) a ton and palm oil atabout $340 (€260) a ton.

The third largest vegetable oil crop, rape seed oil, reached 15 milliontons and is currently trading at about $666 (€509) a ton.

"Rape oil prices have been rising on the back of increasing demand fromfood and biodiesel industries, despite record global supplies," Josh Dadd,an economist at the UK Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), recently toldFoodNavigator.com .

The fourth largest vegetable oil crop, sunflower seed oil, reflects asimilar picture to rape seed oil, with prices becoming bullish on atighter balance sheet. For 2004, world production reached 10 million tons.Prices are currently trading at around the $690 (€527) a ton mark.