HAMBURG, Nov 13 (Reuters) - India will raise palm oil purchases in coming months as its edible oil imports continue to rise but its soyoil and sunflower oil purchases will fall slightly, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.
India will import 7.88 million tonnes of palm oil between Oct. 2012 to Sept. 2013, up from 7.47 million tonnes in 2011/12, Oil World estimates.
Soyoil imports in 2012/13 will drop slightly to 1.20 million tonnes from 1.25 million tonnes in 2011/12 and sunflower oil imports will fall to 1.00 million tonnes from 1.15 million tonnes, it forecast.
“India has become increasingly dependent on vegetable oil imports in the past 15-20 years,” it said. “This was the result of the rapidly rising domestic requirements and insufficient domestic production.”
India’s total 2012/13 edible oil imports including other types will rise to 10.37 million tonnes from 10.16 million tonnes in 2011/12 and only 8.62 million tonnes in 2010/11, it said.
Oilseed yields in India remain unusually low in comparison with other countries, it said. In contrast to improvements in Indian grain crops, India's government and oilseed industry associations have been unsuccessful in efforts to promote better productivity in Indian oilseed farming, it said.
