MARKET DEVELOPMENT
UPDATE 1-India's Vegoil Imports to Open New Marketing Year on Weak Note
UPDATE 1-India's Vegoil Imports to Open New Marketing Year on Weak Note
* Palm imports drop 13 pct on month in Sept, soyoil imports halved
* Soyoil imports to slide as soybean harvest picks up (Adds comment from analyst, details)
16/10/2014 (Reuters) - India's vegetable oil imports are expected to ease for the third straight month in November as the new marketing year opens and the domestic soybean harvest picks up, traders said on Wednesday.
Imports by the world's leading vegetable oil buyer hit a record high in August due to expectations of a poor harvest of soybean, the country's main summer-sown oilseed crop.
But they fell by a fifth to 1.05 million tonnes in September, according to data from the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a trade body.
India is the world's biggest importer of soyoil. Imports hit a record high of 350,373 tonnes in August but more than halved to 161,016 tonnes last month as domestic crop prospects improved with a late surge in monsoon rains.
It is also the world's leading palm oil importer.
"Palm oil imports could average 725,000 tonnes until November but soyoil imports could range between 100,000-125,000 tonnes," said R K Singhal, a Delhi based trade analyst, giving a forecast for October and November.
He said imports would ease in the current month as sufficient stocks had been built up to meet peak demand during Diwali, the festival of lights.
India mainly buys palm oil from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of soft oils such as soyoil from Latin America plus sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia.
The decline in total purchases was also due to a 13 percent drop in palm oil imports to 698,471 tonnes from the previous month.
Traders said higher palm oil stocks, particularly in the world's No. 2 producer, Malaysia, along with better supply prospects for soyoil from South America, kept import prices down last month.
In September, imported palm oil averaged $706-$722 per tonne, down $32-$53 from the previous month, while soyoil imports were $57 cheaper at $840 a tonne and sunflower oil was quoted at $838 a tonne, down $16 from August.
Half of India's annual demand of 17-18 million tonnes of cooking oil is met through palm oil imports, while it buys about 1 million tonnes each of crude soy and sunflower oil.
* Soyoil imports to slide as soybean harvest picks up (Adds comment from analyst, details)
16/10/2014 (Reuters) - India's vegetable oil imports are expected to ease for the third straight month in November as the new marketing year opens and the domestic soybean harvest picks up, traders said on Wednesday.
Imports by the world's leading vegetable oil buyer hit a record high in August due to expectations of a poor harvest of soybean, the country's main summer-sown oilseed crop.
But they fell by a fifth to 1.05 million tonnes in September, according to data from the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a trade body.
India is the world's biggest importer of soyoil. Imports hit a record high of 350,373 tonnes in August but more than halved to 161,016 tonnes last month as domestic crop prospects improved with a late surge in monsoon rains.
It is also the world's leading palm oil importer.
"Palm oil imports could average 725,000 tonnes until November but soyoil imports could range between 100,000-125,000 tonnes," said R K Singhal, a Delhi based trade analyst, giving a forecast for October and November.
He said imports would ease in the current month as sufficient stocks had been built up to meet peak demand during Diwali, the festival of lights.
India mainly buys palm oil from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of soft oils such as soyoil from Latin America plus sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia.
The decline in total purchases was also due to a 13 percent drop in palm oil imports to 698,471 tonnes from the previous month.
Traders said higher palm oil stocks, particularly in the world's No. 2 producer, Malaysia, along with better supply prospects for soyoil from South America, kept import prices down last month.
In September, imported palm oil averaged $706-$722 per tonne, down $32-$53 from the previous month, while soyoil imports were $57 cheaper at $840 a tonne and sunflower oil was quoted at $838 a tonne, down $16 from August.
Half of India's annual demand of 17-18 million tonnes of cooking oil is met through palm oil imports, while it buys about 1 million tonnes each of crude soy and sunflower oil.