NEW DELHI, April 12 (Reuters) -
India's imports of palm oil fell for a second straight month in March as
domestic supply improved and purchases by the world's biggest buyer continued
to suffer from an import levy imposed in January.
India, the world's biggest importer
of vegetable oils, buys mainly palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and a small
quantity of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.
Palm oil imports dropped 12 percent
to 708,262 tonnes in March, Mumbai-based trade body the Solvent Extractors'
Association, said in a monthly update.
Imports of all vegetable oils,
including non-edible oils, fell 7.5 percent to 896,714 tonnes in March, pulled
down by the drop in palm oil imports, the data showed.
Higher domestic cooking oil
supplies, as the rapeseed harvest season peaked last month, helped to curb
imports. Rapeseed is the main oilseed crop grown in winter.
Buyers also drew on stockpiles, as
import prices rose.
Stockpiles of edible oil at ports
fell nearly nine percent during March to 850,000 tonnes, the trade body said,
off a record of 930,000 tonnes on March 1.
"Stocks were still on the
higher side despite the decline in monthly imports," said B.V. Mehta,
executive director of the SEA.
Mehta said overall stocks --
including those in transit from ports to refineries -- could depress domestic
prices before the summer oilseed planting season. Total stocks had edged up to
an all-time record of 2.1 million tonnes by April 1.
Traders said the high level of
stocks, both at ports and in transit, could keep imports capped between 800,000
and 885,000 tonnes for the current month.
India's imports of palm oil hit an
all-time high in January as leading producers Indonesia and Malaysia made
exports more attractive by varying tax levels.
To protect domestic refiners and
oilseed growers, India retaliated with a duty of 2.5 percent on crude palm oil
in the second half of January, which had hit imports in February.
On March 21, Malaysian palm oil
futures touched their highest since Feb. 25, making imports more costly.
India imports about 60 percent of
its cooking oil needs of 17 million tonnes. Palm oil makes up nearly 80 percent
of that. In 2011/12, the country imported 10 million tonnes of cooking oil.
India's demand for cooking oils is
rising as its population grows and becomes better off. New Delhi tries to
encourage domestic oilseed production, partly by guaranteeing minimum prices to
farmers, but has had limited success.
Soyoil imports also declined a
quarter to 46,990 tonnes last month, as demand faded at the tail end of the
marriage season.
