India increases vegetable oil stocks to 15-month high

According to the Solvent Extractors' Association, India increased vegetable oil stocks to a 15-month high of 2.1 million tonnes in April, compared to 1.35 million tonnes last year, Reuters reports.

The build-up in inventories is due to increased imports of vegetable oils, which in April increased by 32% compared to the corresponding figure last year to 1.36 million tons, which was the second highest figure in history. At the same time, domestic consumption of oils decreased due to a sharp increase in their prices, which was also facilitated by the fall of the Indian rupee against the dollar to a historical low.

Imports of sunflower oil in April increased compared to the corresponding figure of the previous year from 211 to 434 thousand tons, of which 240 thousand tons were supplied from the Russian Federation. Imports of palm oil increased from 322 to 514 thousand tons, but became the lowest in the last 12 months due to the deterioration of its competitiveness compared to other oils. At the same time, imports of soybean oil decreased from 491 to 400 thousand tons.

Malaysia became the largest supplier of palm oil to India in April.