Indian March soyoil falls on more import tenders

MUMBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Indian March soyoil futures reversed early gains and fell on Thursday afternoon following more tenders to import edible oil, but firm Malaysian palm oil and strong spot demand limited the drop.

By 3:25 p.m. (0955 GMT), the March futures NSOH9 was down 0.49 percent at 448.20 rupees ($9.2) per 10 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange.

"Prices are under pressure as imports are still on despite availability of domestic edible oils," an official in the Soybean Processors' Association, a leading trade body, said.

State Trading Corporation of India Ltd (STCI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday issued a tender for import of 12,000 tonnes of crude palm oil in February and March.

Together, the state-run firms like MMTC Ltd (MMTC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), STC Ltd and PEC Ltd have issued tenders to import 60,000 tonnes of edible oil since last week.

Still, the February contract NSOG9 was up 0.29 percent at 460.30 rupees, while spot prices in the central city of Indore, a hub for soyoil trade, rose 1.21 percent to 41,800 rupees per tonne.

The benchmark palm oil April contract KPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 1.84 percent at 1,879 ringgit a tonne. ($1=48.8 rupees) (Reporting by Abhishek Shanker)