India’s sunflower oil imports increased by over 28% in August

India’s palm oil imports rose 15.76% in August to 990,500 tonnes, reaching their highest level since July 2024, according to the Edible Oils Association of India (SEA). As competitive prices compared to soybean oil prompted refiners to increase purchases ahead of the festive season, the association reported on Monday.

The rise in palm oil imports by India, the world’s largest buyer of vegetable oils, is expected to help major producers Indonesia and Malaysia reduce inventories and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures going forward.

Soybean oil imports fell 25.27% to 367,900 tonnes, the lowest in four months, while sunflower oil imports rose 28.53% to a seven-month high of 257,000 tonnes, the industry body reported.

According to SEA data, India imported 6,000 tonnes of rapeseed oil in August for the first time in nearly five years.

Analysts expect that increased imports of palm and sunflower oils led to a 4.7% month-on-month increase in India’s total edible oil imports in August, reaching 1.62 million tonnes, the highest level since July 2024.

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

According to SEA data, in the first nine months of the marketing year ending in October, India imported 589,000 tonnes of duty-free edible oils from Nepal under a regional trade agreement.

Tags: sunflower oil, soybean oil, India, palm oil, rapeseed oil