PALMOILMAGAZINE, NEW DELHI — India’s soybean oil (soyoil) imports are projected to soar by 60% year-on-year in 2024/2025, reaching an all-time high, as refiners ramp up purchases due to its cheaper price compared to palm oil. In contrast, palm oil imports are expected to plunge to their lowest level in five years, according to six industry sources cited by Reuters.
The sharp increase in India’s soyoil demand — the world’s largest vegetable oil importer — is expected to further support global soyoil prices, which have already risen 31% since the start of the year. However, this trend could weigh heavily on Malaysian palm oil futures.
Traders estimate that India’s soyoil imports will climb to 5.5 million tonnes in the 2024/2025 marketing year ending October, up from 3.44 million tonnes last year. Meanwhile, palm oil imports are projected to fall 13.5% to 7.8 million tonnes, the lowest since 2019/2020. Imports of sunflower oil are also forecast to decline 20% to 2.8 million tonnes, marking a three-year low. Overall, India’s vegetable oil imports are set to edge up just 1% to 16.1 million tonnes.
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“For months this year, palm oil traded at a premium, pushing buyers toward soybean oil,” said B.V. Mehta, Executive Director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com via Free Malaysia Today on Wednesday (August 13, 2025). He added that soyoil’s cheaper price and ample supply have allowed it to capture palm oil’s market share.
Earlier this year, crude palm oil traded at premiums of up to US$150 per tonne over crude soyoil, due to tight supplies from key producers Malaysia and Indonesia. The price gap triggered a consumption shift, even among major industrial buyers.
“Soybean oil was initially seen only as a substitute for palm oil, but it has now started replacing rapeseed oil too, as rapeseed oil prices surged in the past two months,” said a Mumbai-based trader at a global trading firm.
India mainly sources palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soyoil and sunflower oil are imported from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. This year, India is also expected to buy more than 600,000 tonnes of soyoil from Nepal.
“Imports from Nepal are duty-free under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), encouraging buyers in eastern India to tap supplies from the Himalayan nation,” noted another New Delhi-based trader. (P2)
