NCDEX May soy oil futures traded slightly higher on account of short covering after yesterday's sharp fall in prices.
Gains in overseas markets also provided support to the prices. The import of edible oils in the month of March 2012 is reported at 702,335 tons compared to 412,088 tons in March 2011, up by 70%.
The overall import of edible oils during November 2011 to March 2012 was 3,705,739 tonnes compared to 3,024,496 tonnes i.e. up by 22.5%. Average crude palm oil import prices was 1172 per tonne (CIF) in the month of March at Indian ports; it was higher than $1148 per tonne in February.
However, crude soybean oil prices were 1283/toones in the month of March, slightly down as compared to 1285/tonnes in the February.
Malaysian palm oil stocks dropped below the 2-million-tonne mark for the first time this year, reinforcing views of a tight global supply amid a lower soy crop in drought-hit South America. As per SGS (cargo surveyor), exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-15 fell 13.5 percent to 606,804 tonnes compared with 701,536 tonnes shipped during March 1-15.