India’s vegetable oil imports will rise to record levels

India’s edible oil imports in 2025/26 are expected to rise 4.6% to a record 17.1 million tonnes, primarily driven by higher palm oil purchases, Indian industry analyst Dorab Mistry said on Friday. Reuters reports details of the forecast.

Palm oil imports are likely to grow 13.4% to 9.3 million tonnes, while soybean and sunflower oil imports may decline, Mistry told delegates at the Globoil India industry conference.

Soybean oil purchases could decline from 5.1 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes, while sunflower oil imports in the new season are also likely to decline from 3 million tonnes to 2.7 million tonnes this year.

India has diversified its oil imports, purchasing unrefined palm oil from Thailand, Colombia, and Guatemala, and soybean oil from China, Russia, Egypt, and Iraq.

According to Mistry, global palm oil production growth is slowing: production is projected to increase by only one million tonnes in 2025–2026, despite rising demand for food and biofuels.

He predicts that prices could continue to rise and reach a more than three-year high of 5,500 ringgit per tonne in January–March 2026, amid reduced supplies due to increased biodiesel consumption in Indonesia, the largest producer.

Thomas Mielke, a leading industry analyst and editor-in-chief of the consulting portal OilWorld (Germany), also noted the slowdown in palm oil production. According to his forecast, global prices for palm and soybean oils will rise, while sunflower oil, on the contrary, is expected to decline due to a reduction in the premium for alternative products.

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