NEW DELHI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - India's refined palm oil imports are expected to have fallen in July for the second month in a row as importers feared the world's top vegetable oil buyer would raise duties on purchases to cut cheap supplies from Indonesia, a Reuters survey showed.
Traders forecast refined palm oil imports in July to be between 75,000 and 120,000 tonnes, with the average at 96,000 tonnes, down 22.7 percent from June.
The government finally raised the cost of imports from Aug. 1.
India's refined palm oil imports have risen since October 2011, when Indonesia, the world's No. 1 palm oil producer, changed its export taxes to promote downstream products. That prompted India's domestic refiners to demand measures to make the imports costlier.
The Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a leading trade body, will release July import data next week.
In the first eight months of the current year from November, India's refined palm oil imports surged by 89 percent to 1.2 million tonnes from the year-ago period, hitting margins for local refineries.
Traders said refined palm oil imports would return to around last year's average of 90,000-100,000 tonnes a month after the introduction of the protective step.
Total palm oil imports last month rose as prices eased by 4.8 percent, supported by a build-up of stocks in Malaysia, the world's No. 2 producer, and the euro zone crisis.
Palm oil imports rose 9.8 percent last month to 563,750 tonnes, according to the average of a survey of eight traders.
On Friday, benchmark October crude palm oil futures FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia hit a low of 2,844 ringgit ($920) per tonne, back to the lowest levels this year touched on June 15.
Imported refined palm oil was quoted at around $990 per tonne on a cost and freight basis on India's west coast, while imported crude palm oil was quoted at $970 per tonne.
Imports of soyoil rose in July due to the arrival of delayed vessels from South America, while sunflower imports fell, reflecting lower demand for fried foods during the summer.
Soyoil imports in July are seen up 7.7 percent from June to 150,625 tonnes, while monthly sunflower oil imports were down by 11.8 percent to 77,500 tonnes in July, the survey showed.
Total July vegetable oil imports, including small amounts of non-edible oils, are likely to have risen by 4.7 percent to 820,500 tonnes from June.
The higher imports pushed up end-July stocks at Indian ports by 5.8 percent to 750,00 tonnes, it showed.
Imports of vegetable oils are unlikely to drop in the coming months as India's first drought in three years could reduce oilseeds output, leading to more imports in the next year from November.
"Imports could rise to as high as 950,000 tonnes in August," said Sat Narain Agarwal, a Delhi-based trader.
Indian importers will start building up stocks for the September-November festival season, taking advantage of low crude palm oil prices, he added.
About 80 percent of India's total cooking oil imports are palm oils, while the rest are soft oils.
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