South Asia’s 2017/18 vegoil imports to hit record high on strong demand

South Asia’s edible oil imports are set to climb to an all-time high this year as lower production in the region coincides with rising consumption to drive buying of mainly palm and soybean oils from elsewhere. India seen importing 15.5 mln T of edible oil in 2017/18. Rising demand, lower oilseed output to drive India imports. Pakistan expected to buy 3.2 mln T of edible oil in 2018.

Malaysia CPO dn; India hikes import duty on palm oil

Futures contracts of crude palm oil were down as India has raised import duty on palm oil. The most active May contract of crude palm oil on the Malaysian bourse was at 2,456 ringgits (40,973 rupees) per tn, down 18 ringgits from the previous close.

SEA sees 2017-18 mustard output down 3.8%

India’s mustard output in 2017-18 (Jul-Jun) is estimated to decline 3.8% on year to 6.33 mln tn. The mustard output figure does not include toria and taramira varieties. The production of the two varieties is estimated at 150,000 tn. Likely lower output in Rajasthan is seen pulling down overall mustard production. Farmers shifting to lucrative crops such as chana and wheat led to a drop in the acreage, resulting in lower output. India’s carryover stock of mustard seed at the end of February is seen at 0.4-1.0 mln tn, higher than 0.2 mln tn a year ago, mainly due to disparity in crushing of the oilseed for meal and oil.

Sudden rainfall, hailstorm affect crops in east Rajasthan

Mild to moderate showers accompanied by hailstorm on Sunday noon made farmers, especially in eastern Rajasthan, jittery.With the harvest of crops, including wheat, mustard and barley, almost a fortnight away, this spell of unprecedented rainfall and hailstorm affected the crops.