PALMOILMAGAZINE, NEW DELHI — India’s vegetable oil reserves have fallen to their lowest level in over three years, driven by consistently weak palm oil imports for the past four months. This situation is likely to boost India’s purchases of palm and soybean oils in the near future — a move that could support Malaysian palm oil prices and U.S. soybean oil futures.
According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), vegetable oil stocks as of early April stood at just 1.67 million metric tons, marking an 11.3% drop from the previous month and the lowest level since December 2021.
While palm oil imports in March increased by 14% to 424,599 tons, this figure remains far below the monthly average of over 750,000 tons during the marketing year that ended in October 2024.
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SEA data also revealed a significant shift in India’s import composition. Palm oil’s share in total vegetable oil imports for the first five months of the 2024/25 marketing year plunged to 43%, down from 61% the previous year. Meanwhile, the combined share of soybean and sunflower oil rose to 57%, from 39%.
As reported by Reuters, the declining preference for palm oil stems from the narrowing price gap between palm and soybean oils, prompting buyers to switch. This was evident in March when soybean oil imports jumped 25% to 355,358 tons, while sunflower oil imports dropped 16% to 190,645 tons — the lowest in six months.
Overall, India’s vegetable oil imports in March rose 11% to 998,344 tons.
Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, anticipates a moderate increase in imports this April as buyers ramp up purchases of palm and sunflower oils. “Falling stocks are pushing traders to restock ahead of the festival season,” he explained.
India largely sources its palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean and sunflower oils are imported from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. This dependency means global price movements heavily influence the domestic market dynamics in India. (P2)
