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NDIA is likely to buy more Malaysian palm oil after export levies imposed by top producer Indonesia hit record highs in the past year, B. V. Mehta, executive director of India's Solvent Extractors' Association, said on Thursday (Dec 2).
Indonesia had imposed higher export taxes and levies in the past year, making prices of palm oil - which had already reached record highs this year - more costly for the top buyer.
"Indonesia's share of palm oil imports by India earlier was nearly 70-75 per cent," Mehta told the annual Indonesian Palm Oil Conference.
"Heavy export duty and levies being imposed by Indonesia (are) discouraging Indian refiners to buy from Indonesia," he said, adding that in January-September this year, Indonesia's share of Indian palm oil imports had dropped to 55 per cent, while Malaysia's had jumped 45 per cent.
Indonesia started taxing crude palm oil exports again after three years absence in February last year, while export levies for the edible oil reached a record high of US$255 per tonne in February earlier this year.