India, the world’s biggest vegetable oil importer, is expected to buy larger volumes of soyoil in 2024, while purchases of palm oil are likely to decline, a top dealer said on Monday.

Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm, said India’s soyoil imports will rise to 4.3 million metric tons in the 2023/24 marketing year from 3.5 million tons in 2022/23.

Palm oil imports will be lower at 9.2 million tons in 2023/24, compared with 10 million tons in 2022/23, Bajoria said on the sidelines of the Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference 2024.