Sunflower oil replaces palm oil in the Indian market

UkrAgroConsult

In May this year, India may buy the least palm oil in the last 27 months, as local importers have shifted to purchasing other types of edible oils – sunflower and soybean. This is reported by Reuters with reference to the forecast of market participants.

“Palm oil has been replaced by sunflower oil in many parts of the country due to the more attractive cost of the latter,” said Rajesh Patel, managing partner of GGN Research.

As noted in the materials of traders, from May 1 to May 20, the country received about 261 thsd tonnes of palm oil. By the end of the month, about 150 thousand tons of this product may be imported to the Indian market.

According to the national association SEA (Solvent Extractors’ Association of India), India on average purchases 818.2 thousand tons of palm oil per month, but in May, imports will be significantly lower than this value.

One of the market participants interviewed by Reuters believes that palm oil prices will go down in the coming months: in his opinion, this will further boost demand for the product.

It is worth noting that the import of sunflower oil to India in May is expected to increase by 28% compared to the previous month – up to 319 thsd tonnes, while the import of soybean oil may increase by 16%, up to 305 thsd tonnes.

The main suppliers of palm oil for India are Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Soybean oil is mainly purchased by traders from Argentina and Brazil. Sunflower oil – from Ukraine and Russia.

Tags: sunflower oil, India, palm oil