India's palm oil imports in December went up by 18.38 per cent to 7,48,006 tonnes compared to the year-ago month, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said on Thursday. The palm oil imports during December 2019 had stood at 6,31,824 tonnes, SEA said in a statement. Import duty reduction from November 2, 2020, on crude palm oil (CPO) was reduced to 27.5 per cent from 37.5 per cent, while duty on soft oils remained unchanged at 35 per cent, which encouraged larger import of palm oil, SEA added. The overall import of vegetable oils during December 2020 was up 20 per cent at 13,56,585 tonnes, compared with 11,28,281 tonnes in December 2019. It consisted of 13,28,161 tonnes of edible oils and 28,424 tonnes of non-edible oils. The overall import of vegetable oils during November-December 2020 was up by 9 per cent at 24,59,484 tonnes, compared with 22,55,501 tonnes in the year-ago period. Higher imports during December 2020 is an aberration, as it could be due to relocation of CPO to India to beat the impending export levies by Malaysia, the SEA said in a statement. Indonesia and Malaysia are the major suppliers of palm oil to India. During November-December 2020, Malaysia was the major supplier of CPO (7,36,180 tonnes) followed by Indonesia (5,81,128 tonnes), according to data from SEA. In case of crude soybean degummed oil, India mainly imported this from Argentina (5,51,558 tonnes), while crude sunflower oil was mainly imported from Ukraine (3,84,408 tonne) followed by Russia (64,629 tonnes), the SEA data showed. The stock of edible oils as on January 1, 2021, at various ports is estimated at 6,30,000 tonnes, including 3,25,000 tonnes CPO, 10,000 tonne RBD palmolein, 1,40,000 tonnes degummed soybean oil and 1,55,000 tonnes crude sunflower oil. The total pipeline was at 18,15,000 tonnes, according to the data. The stock has increased from 10.81 lakh tonnes as on July 1, 2020, to 18.15 lakh tonnes as on January 1, 2021, due to higher imports during December, the SEA stated. Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and palm stearin are the major non-edible oils being imported by the soap and ole-chemical industries in the country. Import of non-edible oils during November-December 2020 was almost flat at 47,994 tonnes, compared to 47,697 tonnes in the corresponding months of 2019, SEA added.