NEW DELHI, May 10 (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports fell
for a third straight month in April as refiners in the world's biggest buyer
used stockpiles and processed the new rapeseed harvest, a Reuters survey
showed.
India's overseas purchases of palm oil hit an all-time high
in January as leading producers Indonesia and Malaysia made their exports
attractive by varying tax levels. But imports fell in February and March as
India slapped a duty on crude palm oil.
Palm oil imports are expected to drop 16.4 percent from a
month ago to an average of 592,142 tonnes in April, the survey of seven traders
showed, including 220,000 tonnes of refined palm oil shipments, up 60 percent
from the previous month.
Refined palm oil imports rose as the spread with the crude
variant narrowed to $15-20 in April as against $30-35 in March. Imported
refined palm oil is currently quoted at $830 per tonne on the country's west
coast, while the delivered price for crude palm oil is $820 per tonne.
Imports of vegetable oils, including non-edible oils, fell
15.1 percent to 761,428 tonnes in April, led by the drop in palm oil imports,
the survey showed.
"High level of palm oil stocks acted as a disincentive
for monthly imports," said Sat Narain Agarwal, a Delhi-based trader.
The country's total edible oil stocks at the start of April
stood close to the previous month's record level of 2.12 million tonnes, or
nearly 45 days of consumption against the usual stock of about a month,
according to the Mumbai-based trade body Solvent Extractors' Association.
The survey showed average estimated stocks at Indian ports
at the end of April fell 3.45 percent to 700,000 tonnes from March, confirming
the use of old stocks by refiners. SEA's stock figures include those in transit
from ports.
India, the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils, buys
mainly palm oils from Malaysia, Indonesia and a small quantity of soyoil from
Brazil, Argentina.
India imports about 60 percent of its cooking oil demand of
17 million tonnes, with palm oil's share at about 80 percent. In 2011/12, India
imported 10 million tonnes of cooking oil.
Trade bodies have been asking for an increase in the duty
on refined palm oil to safeguard the interests of local oilseed growers and
refiners. But last month the government said it was not in favour of any rise
in the duty for edible oils.
India's food inflation eased to 8.73 percent in March.
For the half year to April, India's vegetable imports are
expected to jump 15 percent to 5.4 million tonnes from a year ago, indicating
that the imports are on track to surpass last year's record purchases. India's
vegetable oil year runs from November to October.
"Imports in May could be 800,000-850,000 tonnes as
overall stocks continue to be higher," said Govindbhai G. Patel, a trader
based in the western oilseed centre of Rajkot.
Monthly soyoil imports are expected to rise 29.2 percent as
some delayed cargoes from South America should arrive, while sunflower imports
may have fallen by 20.4 percent with the start of summer which cuts appetite
for fried foods.
