India's  palm  oil  imports  rose  12.3%  year  on  year  to  811,700 mt in December, the latest 

Solvent Extractors' Association of India update showed Tuesday. 

Palm imports by the world's top buyer stood at 722,857 mt in December 2017. India imported 

670,244 mt of crude palm oil (CPO) in December, up 10.2% on year. 

Imports of Refined, Bleached and Deodorized (RBD) palmolein rose 22% year on year to 

130,459 mt in December. 

India also imported a small quantity of crude palm kernel oil last month. 

Imports of RBD palmolein would rise in coming months due to the recent reduction of the duty 

difference with the crude palm oil, said B.V. Mehta, Executive Director of the Mumbai-based 

trade and industry body for edible oils. 

India cut import duties on crude and RBD palmolein from Malaysia and Indonesia to comply 

with preferential trade agreements with Southeast Asian nations. 

The reduction in import duties became effective from January 1, 2019. 

The duty on CPO from Malaysia, Indonesia and other members of ASEAN was reduced to 

40% from 44%, while the duty on refined palm oil was slashed to 45% from 54% for imports 

from Malaysia, and to 50% for imports from Indonesia. 

With the latest changes, the effective difference in duties between CPO and RBD palmolein 

shrank to 5.5% from 11%. 

In December and January, Indian buyers had already begun to buy more Malaysian palmole

in cargoes, said market sources, with less buying from Indonesia. Meanwhile, Chinese buyers 

are buying more Indonesian palm oil, which is cheaper for them to purchase, sources said.