India vegoil imports seen soaring from May

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 12 (Reuters) Edible oil purchases by India are likely to jump from May and this will be a key factor in driving palm oil prices this year, a top industry analyst said on Monday.

''India will go like a train from May onwards and it will be mainly palm,'' Dorab Mistry, London-based director of Godrej International Ltd, told Reuters.

Mistry, whose comments are widely watched by the market, presents a paper on Wednesday at the annual palm oil conference organised by the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange.

Crude palm oil prices jumped 40 percent last year and are still holding gains, despite a global flight from risky assets, as demand from the food and fuel sectors surges.

The benchmark third-month May contract in Malaysia ended on Monday at 1,972 ringgit (3) per tonne, up 9 ringgit from Friday's close.

REUTERS SBA DB2122