India meets more than half of its edible oil requirement through imports, which largely constitute palm oil. India's palm oil imports in January are likely to rise to a record high as Malaysia allowed duty free exports, a senior industry official said on December 20.
"Edible oil supplies situation in the local market is comfortable due to the ongoing crushing of soyabeans," said Vedika Narvekar, a senior analyst with Angel Commodities Broking. "But it seems oil mills will import higher quantity of palm oil in January to take benefit of lower prices. Those imports will depress prices." The January soyabean contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was down 0.42 percent at 3,282 rupees per 100 kg.
The January soyaoil contract was 0.41 percent lower at 699.3 rupees per 10 kg, while the January rapeseed contract dropped 0.96 percent to 4,225 rupees per 100 kg. Indian farmers have cultivated rapeseed on 6.44 million hectares as of December 21, compared with 6.27 million hectares during the same period last year. At the Indore spot market in Madhya Pradesh, soyaoil fell by 2.7 rupees to 716.3 rupees per 10 kg, while soyabeans nudged up 1 rupee to 3,335 rupees per 100 kg. At Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, rapeseed was steady at 4,285 rupees.