Indian soyoil futures down on spot, lower crude

MUMBAI, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Indian soyoil futures fell on Monday afternoon as a sharp jump in edible oil imports late last year weakened spot demand, and crude oil prices eased.

At 3:34 p.m. (1004 GMT), the January futures contract NSOF9 on India's National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was down 0.59 percent at 491.25 rupees ($10.1) per 10 kg. February futures NSOG9 had fallen 0.75 percent to 475 rupees.

Prices in the spot market in the western state of Maharashtra, the country's second largest producer, fell 0.9 percent to 438 rupees per 10 kg.

"There is enough cheaper imported oil available hence the demand for domestic soyoil has fallen," a senior official at the Soybean Processors' Association of India, a trade body, said.

India imported 1.24 million tonnes of edible oil, mainly palm oil, in the November-December period against just 620,000 tonnes in the same period last year as international prices tumbled to new lows, tracking lower crude.

There is no import duty on crude palm oil yet, which makes it a cheaper option than soyoil, the official said.

India meets more than 40 percent of its edible oil requirement through imports, buying crude and refined palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and soyoil from Argentina and Brazil.

Lower oil prices weighed as cheaper crude trims demand for soyoil from the biofuel sector. At 1007 GMT, crude oil prices CLc1 were down 1.73 percent at $35.91 a barrel. ($1=48.6 rupees) (Reporting by Abhishek Shanker, Editing by Mark Williams)