India's vegetable oil imports in May rose to 664,133 tonnes from 475,123 tonnes in the previous month, a leading trade body said on Wednesday, the second straight monthly rise which was slightly higher than an average Reuters poll forecast. Traders had been expecting the rise because local supply of oilseeds had dropped. The rising trend is expected to continue, helping the benchmark Malaysian palm prices stay firm.
A Reuters survey had forecast an average imports of 650,625 tonnes in May.
Palm oil imports, which share the bulk of the imports, rose 51 percent in May over the previous month, while the monthly soyaoil imports almost doubled.
Traders said higher palm stocks in Malaysia, the world's No 2 producer of the tropical oil, made the imports cheaper, while a robust South American harvest and a fall in crude prices eased bio-diesel demand for soyaoil.
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.