By Rajendra Jadhav
MUMBAI (Reuters) -India’s palm oil imports in December surged 96% from a year earlier to a record high for the month as palm oil’s hefty discount to rival edible oils led refiners to raise purchases during the seasonally weak winter period, a trade body said.
Higher imports by India, the world’s biggest palm oil buyer, would help top producers Indonesia and Malaysia cut their inventories and support benchmark palm oil prices.
India’s palm oil imports reached 1.1 million tonnes last month, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said in a statement.
The imports for December were 2.8% lower than November purchases of 1.14 million tonnes and compare with an all-time high of 1.26 million tonnes in September 2021.
India’s palm oil imports usually moderate during winter months as the tropical oil solidifies at lower temperatures.
In the December quarter, India’s palm oil imports were unusually high as Indonesia was aggressively selling, which widened palm oil’s discount to rival soyoil, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.
For December shipments, buyers mostly placed orders in November, when palm oil was as high as $460 per tonne cheaper than rival soyoil and sunflower oil.
India’s palm oil imports for the December quarter jumped 17% from the September quarter to a record 3.13 million tonnes, according to SEA data.
Soyoil imports in December fell 36% from a year earlier to 252,525 tonnes, while those of sunflower oil dropped 25% to 194,009 tonnes, according to the SEA.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Palm oil imports in January could moderate as palm oil’s discount to soyoil has come down to around $300 per tonne, the dealer said.
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Additional reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra and Nick Macfie)
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