Cooking oil imports in India falling

Cooking oil imports by India - which uses more of the commodity than any other nation except China - could be headed for a slump, as they continue to push palm oil prices much lower.

As futures climbed to a 26-month high, foreign supplies of cooking oil became more expensive than locally sold products - meaning that purchases could decline by as much as 36 percent, to 600,000 metric tons in October from 942,257 tons in September, Govindlal G. Patel, managing partner at GG Patel & Nikhil Research, told Bloomberg.

"People are not buying, as global prices are high and there is disparity," Patel, who has been trading oilseeds and vegetable oils for more than four decades, said. "Global prices are higher than local prices."

Malaysia and Indonesia are the world's two largest producers of palm oil. Bloomberg reports that India’s palm oil imports from Malaysia, the second-biggest producer, dropped 21 percent in the first half of October compared to September.