Mustard output in India may fall on weather
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
NEW DELHI, Jan 11 (Bloomberg): The mustard seed harvest in India may be smaller than a year earlier as dry weather reduced the planting area of the winter-sown crop, said an official at the nation's biggest group of oilseeds processors.
Production may total 5.7-5.8 million metric tonnes in the March-April harvest, down from 6.2 million tonnes a year earlier, said Govindlal G Patel, chairman of the crop committee of the Central Organisation for Oil Industry & Trade, or COOIT.
A reduction in winter oilseed production may further strain edible oil supplies, increasing the need to purchase more abroad. Vegetable oil imports will reach a record 9.4 million tonnes this year after drought damaged peanuts and other monsoon-sown crops, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said January 8. Palm oil has gained 30 per cent in the past year on demand from China and India, the biggest consumers.
Production may total 5.7-5.8 million metric tonnes in the March-April harvest, down from 6.2 million tonnes a year earlier, said Govindlal G Patel, chairman of the crop committee of the Central Organisation for Oil Industry & Trade, or COOIT.
A reduction in winter oilseed production may further strain edible oil supplies, increasing the need to purchase more abroad. Vegetable oil imports will reach a record 9.4 million tonnes this year after drought damaged peanuts and other monsoon-sown crops, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said January 8. Palm oil has gained 30 per cent in the past year on demand from China and India, the biggest consumers.