Palmolein slump drags India’s vegetable oil imports down 28% in November
India’s vegetable oil imports plunged 28% year-on-year to 11.83 lakh tonnes in November, marking the kickoff of the 2025/26 oil year with a stark downturn.
The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) attributes this drop primarily to a sharp decline in refined Palmolein shipments, which tumbled amid volatile global prices and softening demand.
The world’s biggest vegetable oil importer had brought in 16.50 lakh tonne of vegetable oils, including edible and non-edible oils, in November 2024.
Overall palm oil imports declined 25% to 6.32 lakh tonne in November from 8.42 lakh tonne a year earlier, the Solvent Extractors Association of India said in a statement.
RBD palmolein imports plunged to 3,500 tonnes in November from 2.85 lakh tonnes a year earlier, while crude sunflower oil shipments fell to 1.42 lakh tonnes from 3.40 lakh tonnes in the same period a year ago.
Crude soybean oil imports declined to 3.70 lakh tonne from 4.07 lakh tonne, and crude palm kernel oil imports fell to 1,850 tonne from 10,147 tonne, SEA data showed.
Non-edible oil imports declined to 32,877 tonnes in November from 37,341 tonnes a year earlier. Indonesia and Malaysia are the major suppliers of RBD palmolein and crude palm oil to India.
In November, Malaysia supplied 3,01,273 tonnes of crude palm oil, while Indonesia shipped 1,23,456 tonnes of crude palm oil and 3,500 tonnes of RBD palmolein.
India mainly imported crude soybean degummed oil from Argentina (2,35,680 tonne), Brazil (50,062 tonne) and China (69,919 tonne), while crude sunflower oil came primarily from Russia (74,020 tonne), Argentina (34,933 tonne) and Ukraine (20,000 tonne).
Sowing of rabi or winter oilseed crops increased 2.40% to 84.14 lakh hectare as of Dec. 5, compared with 81.75 lakh hectare a year earlier.
The area under rapeseed and mustard seed rose 3.45 per cent to 79.88 lakh hectare from 76.43 lakh hectare, the SEA said.
Total edible oil stocks stood at 16.23 lakh tonne as of Dec.1, lower than 17.31 lakh tonne in the previous month, SEA said.
As the oil year unfolds, stakeholders monitor El Niño risks and EU deforestation rules, which could spike prices 10-15% by Q2 2026.
India’s import bill, already ₹1.2 lakh crore yearly, underscores the need for diversified sourcing and crop yield boosts to shield its 1.4 billion consumers.
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