India's vegetable oil imports rose to 913,179 tonnes in July, up 5.9 percent over June, the fourth straight monthly rise which was higher than the average forecast in a Reuters poll. The imports in July are the highest since November, leading trade body Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India said on Friday. The demand has risen on account of the festive season and tapering local supplies.
The July imports were also 14.1 percent higher than the 800,644 tonnes imported in the same month a year ago, the trade body said in a statement. A Reuters survey had forecast average imports of 872,500 tonnes in July. Palm oil imports, which share the bulk of the imports, fell 13.4 percent in July over the previous month, while the monthly soyaoil imports rose by 223 percent. Traders said the last month's fall in palm oil imports was due to rescheduling of cargoes by importers who tried to gain from Indonesia's move to reduce export tax by five percent with effect from August.
But the jump in soyaoil imports was due to more than expected cargoes arriving late from South America due to clubbing of June shipments with the cargoes meant for last month delivery. 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. In the nine months to the marketing year ending October, imports have been down 5.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago.