India's Palm Oil Imports Flat In September

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- India's palm oil imports in September remained flat compared with the previous month amid the rupee's decline against the US dollar, trade data shows. The country purchased 918,675 tonnes of palm oil in its total vegetable oil imports of 1.49 million tonnes last month, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said on Tuesday. The share of crude palm oil (CPO) in overall palm oil imports in September was 72 per cent and Refined, Bleached and Deodrised palm olein accounted for 27 per cent. Palm oil's share in vegetable oil imports was 65 per cent versus 35 per cent for soft oils comprising soybean, sunflower and rapeseed. India's vegetable oil imports in August and September were strong compared with the months of June and July as buyers replenished their stocks. India imported 920,894 tonnes of palm oil in August compared with 550,180 tonnes in July. In spite of the rupee's depreciation in August and September, imports of vegetable oil jumped as pipelines were dried up due to lesser import during June and July, coupled with improved parity in the import of palm oil due to a reduction in the spread between palm oil and soft oils, SEA said. -- BERNAMA