Palm oil imports by India, the world’s biggest buyer, slumped for the first time in four years as record global cooking oil supplies narrowed its discount to soybean and sunflower oils.
Shipments declined 4.1 percent to 7.96 million metric tons in the year ended Oct. 31, the first drop since 2009-2010, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said in a statement today. Total vegetable oil imports, including industrial oils, jumped 12 percent to a record 11.8 million tons as purchases of soybean and sunflower oils climbed to the highest ever, it said.
Palm oil, used in everything from noodle to soaps, lost market share in India as its discount to soybean oil narrowed to an average $84 a ton this year from $244 in 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Palm entered a bull market last week after Indonesia and Malaysia, the largest producers, scrapped export taxes to boost demand and cut reserves.
“The gap between soft oils such as soybean and palm oil was very narrow during the year and that eroded the competitiveness of palm,” said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive officer of Mumbai-based broker Sunvin Group. “With Malaysia and Indonesia pushing their exports through zero duty, India’s purchases may rise by almost 1 million tons this year.”
Soybean oil imports surged 79 percent to 1.95 million tons, while sunflower oil imports jumped 55 percent to 1.51 million tons, the association said.
Source:bloomberg.com
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