MUMBAI India's January palm oil imports fell 31% from a month ago to their lowest in months as a narrowing discount to rival oils prompted refiners to increase purchases of soybean and sunflower oils, five dealers told Reuters on Thursday (Feb 2).

The reduction in palm oil imports by India, the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils, could weigh on Malaysian palm oil prices but support soyoil and help Russia and Ukraine in bringing down their sunoil stocks.

India's palm oil imports fell to 770,000 tonnes last month, the lowest since July 2022, according to the average of the estimates from the five dealers with trading firms.

"Palm oil's discount is coming down. Buyers are shifting to soyoil and sunflower oil," said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm.

Palm oil's discount to soyoil has shrunk to less than US$300 per tonne from as high as US$500 in the December quarter, the dealers said.

Palm oil's share of India's total vegetable oil imports has fallen as well, dropping below 50% in January from 71% in December, they said.

India's soyoil imports in January rose 56% from a month earlier to 395,000 tonnes, while those of sunflower oil jumped 143% to a record 473,000 tonnes, the dealers said.

India raised sunoil imports as the oil has been trading at a discount to soyoil for the past few weeks amid efforts of top exporters Russia and Ukraine to reduce stockpiles, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.

The Black Sea accounts for 60% of world sunoil output and 76% of exports.

"Sunflower oil shipments rose to an extraordinary level. We never thought India could import this much sunoil in a month," said a Singapore-based dealer.

India's edible oil imports in the first quarter of the 2022/23 marketing year - which started on Nov 1 - rose above 4.5 million tonnes while stockpiles at ports increased sharply, said a New-Delhi based dealer.

India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It imports soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

  - Reuters