India imports less palm oil in 2021/22, raises soy oil purchases to record

By Rajendra Jadhav and Arpan Varghese MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports in 2021/22 were down 4.8% from a year earlier, with foreign purchases of soybean oil jumping 45.3% to a record high after the Indonesia has restricted shipments of palm oil, a trade body said on Monday. India is the world's largest importer of vegetable oils such as palm oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil. The country's palm oil imports in the marketing year ended Oct 31 fell to 7.9 million tonnes from 8.3 million tonnes a year earlier, the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said. based in Mumbai. Indonesia, the world's largest exporter of palm oil, imposed several restrictions on exports in the first half of 2022 to calm local prices. The restrictions have made palm oil as expensive as soybean oil and sunflower oil, prompting Indian refiners to cut back on palm oil purchases, according to SEA. Palm oil is usually traded at a discount of around $200 per ton to rival soybean oil ...