| Date: |
16-03-2015 |
| Subject: |
India’s Feb palm oil imports down on oilseed duty worry |
|
India’s overseas purchases of palm oil dropped 23 percent in February from a month ago, data from a trade body showed, as buyers stayed on the sidelines amid hopes for a cut in oilseed import duty in the federal budget.
Lower purchases by the world’s top palm oil importer dented benchmark futures of the tropical oil, which are set for their sharpest weekly drop in a month. But projections for a pick up in Indian demand later this year due to bleak domestic oilseed output should check price losses, traders said.
India shipped in 509,948 tonnes of palm oil in February, data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) showed, coming in at the higher end of traders’ expectations for 450,000 tonnes to 520,000 tonnes.
“Expectation of a duty cut for oilseeds kept imports at lower levels,” SEA’s executive director B.V. Mehta said.
India’s farm ministry had proposed a cut in the import duty on oilseeds to give relief to refiners in the lean season during April to September. But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley evaded the proposal while presenting the budget on Feb. 28.
Imports of crude palm oil fell 27 percent from a month ago to 423,284 tonnes in February, while imports of the refined variant rose 15 percent to 80,667 tonnes, the data showed.
In February, the average import price of refined palm oil remained flat at $687 per tonne while the price for crude palm oil rose $3 from January to $667 a tonne, the SEA data showed.
Palm oil accounts for around 70 percent of India’s total vegetable oil imports that average 18-19 million tonnes.
India meets around 60 percent of its annual vegetable oil needs via imports, mainly palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and also small amount of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.
In February, soyoil imports climbed 7 percent to 240,235 tonnes from a month ago as demand for fried foods rose over the winter wedding season.
Source : hellenicshippingnews.com
|