India's April vegetable oil imports seen up 15.5 percent

India's vegetable oil imports may have risen by 15.5 percent in April because of lower local supplies after the end of the rapeseed harvest season, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday, signalling the first rise in overseas purchases since December.
The rising trend is expected to continue next month, supporting global vegetable oil prices which have risen this year along with crude as they can be used as alternatives in the energy sector. Palm oil, which accounts for about 74 percent of cooking oil imports, is expected to have risen 42.4 percent in April over the previous month, according to a survey of eight traders.
Soyaoil imports could have fallen 33.1 percent - the second fall in three months as consumption of the commodity traditionally falls during summer. Imports of palm oil slows in winter because it solidifies at lower temperatures. India, the world's top vegetable oil importer, buys mainly palm oils from Indonesia and Malaysia, and small quantities of soyaoil from Argentina and Brazil.
Traders said higher palm stocks in Malaysia, the world's No 2 producer of the tropical oil, made overseas purchases cheaper last month, while bio-diesel demand for soyaoil amid high crude oil prices led to the lower monthly imports. India's higher imports may push up Malaysia palm oil futures which extended gains to third day on Wednesday ahead of a key US agricultural report.
By midday the benchmark July crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives rose 0.6 percent to 3,278 ringgit ($1,097) per tonne. India's vegetable oil imports, including non-edible oils, are estimated to have declined 7.3 percent in April from a year ago to 503,375 tonnes on higher rapeseed output, the average of forecasts in the survey showed.
Last month, India's farm ministry forecast 7.4 million tonnes of rapeseed output in 2011, a 12 percent rise over the previous year for the main winter season oilseed crop. "Local supplies fell in April as the rapeseed harvest season came to an end," said Bhagwat Garg, a New Delhi-based analyst.
Fall in the local supplies trimmed stocks of imported edible oils at Indian ports by 9.5 percent to 418,750 tonnes at the end of April in comparison to the previous month, the survey said. Trade body the Solvent Extractors' Association of India is expected to release its data next week.