India Lockdown Casts Shadow on Biggest Buyer’s Palm Imports
- Palm oil purchases by India may drop 29% in April: survey
- Soybean oil and sunflower oil imports are also seen declining
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Palm oil imports by India will probably slump year-on-year for a sixth month in April as a nationwide lockdown in the world’s biggest buyer to combat the spread of the coronavirus hurts operations at ports and factories.
Purchases may plummet 29% from a year earlier to 500,000 tons next month even as the Ramadan festival, which generally boosts demand for the world’s most-consumed edible oil, is around the corner, according to the median of five estimates in a Bloomberg survey of processors, brokers, traders and analysts. Palm oil accounts for about 60% of India’s cooking oil purchases.