India's palm oil imports are set to drop 6 percent in the year to October 2014, with buyers opting for rival soybean oil as the price spread between the two narrows, traders said on Monday. Lower overseas purchases by the world's top importer of vegetable oils could cap benchmark palm prices that jumped to a 17-month high earlier in the day, adding to February's gains - the biggest monthly rise since October 2013.
Crude palm oil is being offered at $940 to $945 a tonne, including cost, insurance and freight (CIF), in India, at par with the price of degummed soybean oil, traders said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Kuala Lumpur. Palm oil usually trades at a discount of $100 to $150 a tonne to soybean oil but last month's almost 10 percent rally in Malaysian futures - currently trading below the day's peak of 2,860 ringgit ($870) per tonne - has tightened the spread.
