India’s vegetable oil imports rose 37% in May to half-year highs

India’s edible oil imports in May rose 37% from the previous month to 1.18 million tonnes, the highest since December.

Palm oil imports led the gains, with shipments up 87% to a six-month high, driven by depleted stocks and attractive prices compared with soybean and sunflower oils. Mills stepped up purchases, potentially supporting Malaysian palm oil and US soybean oil futures, the India Times reported.

Dealers estimated palm oil imports in May at 600,000 tonnes, the highest since November 2024. Soybean oil imports rose 10% month-on-month in May to 398,000 tonnes, the highest since January, while sunflower oil imports rose 2% to 184,000 metric tonnes.

India imported an average of more than 750,000 tonnes of palm oil per month during the marketing year ending October 2024, according to the Edible Oils Association of India (SEA), which plans to release import data for May by mid-June.

Palm oil imports fell sharply from January to April due to its high cost relative to soybean oil, pushing India’s stock levels to multi-year lows, but since palm oil began selling at a discount last month, Indian buyers have turned to the tropical staple again.

India’s vegetable oil stocks fell to 1.35 million tonnes as of May 1, the lowest since July 2020, according to SEA data.

On Friday, India halved its basic import duty on crude edible oils to 10% to help bring down food prices and help local industries. India sources palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean and sunflower oils are imported from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Tags: sunflower oil, soybean oil, India, palm oil, imports, edible oils