Indian soyaoil futures eased on Wednesday on rising supplies and a drop in palm oil prices overseas, while oilseeds rose on good exports demand for oilmeal. At 0818 GMT, Malaysian palm oil futures were down 0.94 percent at 2,320 ringgit per tonne, while US soyabeans had eased 0.14 percent to $14.64 per bushel. India meets more than half of its edible oil requirement through imports, which largely constitute palm oil.

The January soyabean contract on India's National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was up 0.22 percent at 3,370.5 rupees per 100 kg. "The downside in palm oil prices pulled down soyaoil. Local fundamentals are supporting. Edible oil demand is likely to stay firm due to the winter season," said Badruddin Khan, associate vice-president of research at Indiabulls Commodities Ltd.

India's soyameal exports surged more than 10-fold in November from a month ago on fresh supplies and strong demand from France and Japan. The January soyaoil contract fell 0.29 percent to 703.2 rupees per 10 kg, while the January rapeseed contract jumped 2.31 percent to 4,244 rupees per 100 kg. Indian farmers have cultivated rapeseed on 6.36 million hectares as of December 14, compared with 6.16 million hectares during the same period last year. At the Indore spot market in Madhya Pradesh, soyaoil fell 5.3 rupees to 720.95 rupees per 10 kg, while soyabeans eased 20 rupees to 3,353 rupees per 100 kg. At Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, rapeseed jumped 48 rupees to 4,275 rupees.

Copyright Reuters, 2012