India's top palm oil buyer expects 26% jump in imports to record 10 mln T

Patanjali Foods

06/09/2023 09:58

By Rajendra Jadhav
       MUMBAI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports are
set to jump 26% to a record high in the 2022/23 year ending on
Oct. 31, as a recovery in consumption and competitive prices
prompt refiners to increase purchases, the country's top palm
oil buyer told Reuters on Wednesday.
    Higher purchases by the world's biggest importer of palm oil
could help to lower inventories in top producing Indonesia and
Malaysia and support benchmark futures  FCPOc3 .
    "Refiners are increasing their purchases for the upcoming
festivals. We could see imports of around 1.8 million metric
tons in the next two months," said Sanjeev Asthana, chief
executive officer at Patanjali Foods Ltd  PAFO.NS .
    If India imports 1.8 million tons in the next two months,
the total shipments for the 2022/23 marketing year ending on
Oct. 31 would be 10 million tons, surpassing the previous high
of 9.5 million tons made in 2014/15, he said.
    In the first 10 months of 2022/23, India imported 14 million
tons of edible oils, consisting of 8.2 million tons of palm oil,
3.2 million tons of soyoil and 2.5 million tons of sunflower
oil, dealers estimate.
    India's edible oil consumption has been subdued in the past
three years, with record-high prices weighing on 2022 use and
COVID-19 on the previous two years, he said.
    "We are expecting a growth 2%-4% in this year's
consumption," he said.
    India fulfils more than two-third of its edible oil
requirement through imports.
    A consumption revival would also see higher sunflower oil
imports in the current year, raising the total imports of edible
oils by 18% to a record 16.5 million tons, said Rajesh Patel,
managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trader and
broker.
    Sunflower oil imports could jump 44% from a year earlier to
a record 2.8 million tons as the oil was cheaper than soyoil, he
said.
    Soyoil imports could fall 11% from last year's record high
of 4.1 million tons to 3.7 million tons this year, he added.
    India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and
Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from
Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

 (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((rajendra.jadhav@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-68414378 ; Reuters
Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))