Palm oil imports to rise on tax

India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oil after China, may increase palm oil imports after the government imposed a tax on purchases of crude soybean oil, the main substitute product, a trade body said.

The government levied a 20 per cent duty on purchases earlier this week to shield oilseed growers from duty-free imports.

An increase in purchases may help support prices of palm oil, which have plunged 67 per cent from a record in March. The commodity accounts for 90 per cent of the country’s total imports of cooking fat.