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India has bought canola oil for August delivery for the first time in nearly five years, after domestic prices hit a three-and-a-half-year high, making overseas purchases more viable, industry officials told Reuters.
A shipment of 6,000 tonnes of canola oil from the United Arab Emirates is expected to arrive at Kandla port in Gujarat state this month, according to Rajesh Patel, managing partner at edible oil trading firm GGN Research.
India relies mainly on palm oil imports from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soybean oil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
In July, spot market prices for rapeseed (canola) oil rose to 167,000 rupees ($1,914) a tonne — the highest since February 2022 and up nearly 34% from a year earlier.
A Mumbai-based trader working with a global trading house said: "The price rally is opening the door to imports, and we may see more of them since the new domestic crop won't reach the market until March next year."
He added that India's soybean oil imports are also rising, as some buyers switch from the pricier rapeseed oil to the cheaper alternative.
($1 = 87.2510 Indian rupees)
Source: Reuters