India’s palm oil imports jump 61% in June to hit 11-month high

India’s palm oil imports rose sharply to an 11-month high in June, driven by lower domestic inventories and a discount to rival soybean and sunflower oils, prompting crushers to boost purchases, five dealers said.

Higher palm oil imports by India, the world’s largest buyer of vegetable oils, will help reduce inventories at top producers Indonesia and Malaysia and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.

Palm oil imports in June rose 61 percent month-on-month to 953,000 metric tons, the highest since July 2024, according to dealer estimates.

“Palm oil is regaining lost market share since last month. It is now almost $100 a ton cheaper than rival oils,” said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage.

India imported an average of 475,699 tonnes of palm oil every month in the first seven months of the current marketing year ending October 2025, according to the SEA, which is due to release import data for June by mid-July.

In the last marketing year, India imported an average of over 750,000 tonnes of palm oil every month.

Soybean oil imports in June fell 9 per cent from the previous month to 363,000 tonnes, while sunflower oil imports rose 18 per cent to 216,000 tonnes, according to dealer estimates.

Higher palm and sunflower oil imports pushed India’s overall edible oil imports in June up 30 per cent from the previous month to 1.53 million tonnes, the highest since November, according to dealer estimates.

Palm oil imports are expected to remain resilient in the coming months as prices are attractive amid rising production in key producing countries, said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at edible oil trader GGN Research.

India sources palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean and sunflower oils are imported from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Nepal’s edible oil imports totaled 75,000 tonnes in June, down from 155,000 tonnes in May, GGN Research estimates.

Tags: India, palm oil, sunflower oil