India’s vegetable oil imports rise 4% over 11 months

India increased vegetable oil imports by 4% y/y in November-August 2025/26 to 13.88 mln tons, up from 13.34 mln tons a year earlier. Edible oil imports rose 4.5% to 13.62 mln tons, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).

Crude palm oil was the largest import category at 6.42 mln tons, up 26.1% y/y. Crude soybean oil imports increased by 3.5% to 4.03 mln tons, while sunflower oil imports rose 5.6% to 2.48 mln tons.

Meanwhile, imports of refined palm oil fell sharply to 93.9 thsd tons from 1.01 mln tons a year earlier. This was partly offset by higher crude palm oil imports, while soybean oil inflows were also supported by increased shipments from Nepal.

In August, India’s total vegetable oil imports declined by 7.2% y/y to 1.61 mln tons. Crude palm oil imports fell 22.4% to 760 thsd tons, while crude soybean oil imports jumped 50.7% to 555 thsd tons.

As of September 1, edible oil stocks at Indian ports stood at 1.10 mln tons, compared with 966 thsd tons a year earlier. SEA also noted that a weaker rupee and higher vegetable oil prices are increasing import costs for Indian refiners.

Tags: vegetable oils, India, imports