<p>Mumbai: India's vegetable oil imports surged to a four-month high in November as refiners ramped up purchases of soyoil and sunflower oil, replenishing inventories after robust festival season demand, a leading trade body said on Thursday.</p><p>The country's vegetable oil imports in November rose to 1.63 million metric tons, up 10.4 per cent from a month ago, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.</p><p>The world's biggest edible oil importer celebrated the Dussehra and Diwali festivals in October and November, increasing the consumption of sweets and fried food.</p><p>Soyoil imports increased 19.3 per cent in November to 407,648 tons and sunflower oil imports surged 42.5 per cent to 340,660 tons, the SEA said.</p><p>The country's palm oil imports fell 0.4 per cent from October to 841,993 metric tons, it said.</p>.India-EU trade pact talks need political directions for meaningful deal.<p>Argentina has been selling soyoil at very competitive prices for the past two months, leading to higher imports by India but putting pressure on local soybean prices, said B V Mehta, executive director of SEA.</p><p>Soybean prices are trading below the government-set floor price of 4,892 rupees per 100 kg and are likely to remain under pressure until the flow of excess soyoil is restricted, Mehta said.</p><p>India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.</p><p>Palm oil usually trades at a discount to soybean oil and sunflower oil, but is currently holding a premium over these competing oils.</p><p>"Palm oil's premium is forcing Indian refiners to buy more soyoil and sunflower oil. We could see a sharp drop in palm oil imports in December," said a Mumbai-based dealer.</p>
<p>Mumbai: India's vegetable oil imports surged to a four-month high in November as refiners ramped up purchases of soyoil and sunflower oil, replenishing inventories after robust festival season demand, a leading trade body said on Thursday.</p><p>The country's vegetable oil imports in November rose to 1.63 million metric tons, up 10.4 per cent from a month ago, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.</p><p>The world's biggest edible oil importer celebrated the Dussehra and Diwali festivals in October and November, increasing the consumption of sweets and fried food.</p><p>Soyoil imports increased 19.3 per cent in November to 407,648 tons and sunflower oil imports surged 42.5 per cent to 340,660 tons, the SEA said.</p><p>The country's palm oil imports fell 0.4 per cent from October to 841,993 metric tons, it said.</p>.India-EU trade pact talks need political directions for meaningful deal.<p>Argentina has been selling soyoil at very competitive prices for the past two months, leading to higher imports by India but putting pressure on local soybean prices, said B V Mehta, executive director of SEA.</p><p>Soybean prices are trading below the government-set floor price of 4,892 rupees per 100 kg and are likely to remain under pressure until the flow of excess soyoil is restricted, Mehta said.</p><p>India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.</p><p>Palm oil usually trades at a discount to soybean oil and sunflower oil, but is currently holding a premium over these competing oils.</p><p>"Palm oil's premium is forcing Indian refiners to buy more soyoil and sunflower oil. We could see a sharp drop in palm oil imports in December," said a Mumbai-based dealer.</p>