02/08/2012 (Reuters) - India's PEC Ltd has bought 15,000 tonnes of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palmolein at $1,015 per tonne, two trade sources said on Wednesday, higher than the last known price paid by another trading company.

The sources said the cargoes would be delivered at the southern ports of Chennai and Tuticorin by the end of August and the price included cost, insurance and freight.

Last month, PEC issued an import tender seeking the refined palm oil quantity.

PEC is one of the three state-run trading companies that regularly buys cooking oils for state governments for public distribution under welfare schemes. PEC bought the latest quantity for the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

State-run MMTC Ltd bought 14,000 tonnes of RBD palmolein at $1,011 per tonne for delivery by Aug. 7, sources said earlier on Wednesday.

India, the world's top vegetable oil importer, buys mainly palm oils from Malaysia and Indonesia, and a small quantity of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.

India has just moved to raise import costs for RBD palmolein to protect its domestic refiners after Indonesia tweaked its export duties to bring refined palmolein costs down.