India witnessed a 13.03 per cent increase in edible oil imports in the first two months (November-October) of the 2024-25 oil year due to a significant increase in imports of soybean oil and sunflower oil.
According to data compiled by the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the country imported 27.25 million tonnes (lt) of edible oil in the first two months of the oil year 2024-2025, compared to last year. It was 24.55 tons.
SEA Executive Director BV Mehta said palm oil is losing market share in India and is slowing down, while soybean oil’s share is increasing.
Imports of palm oil (including RBD palmolein and crude palm oil) decreased to 13.42 liters in the first two months of the 2024-2025 oil year from 17.63 liters last year. This is a decrease of 23.89%.
He said tight export supplies have led consumers to switch to lower-priced South American soybean oil.
India’s soybean oil imports increased by 173.78% to 8.28 liters (3.02 liters in November-December of oil year 2024-25).
BV Mehta said the global trend for soybean oil is that the volumes of soybean oil have surged in recent months due to very deep price discounts, with strong consumer reaction to attractive soybean oil prices. He stated that this has led to the rapid absorption of surplus soybean oil and alleviation of the strain. with palm oil.
India imported 6.05 liters of sunflower oil (3.89 liters) during the first two months of the oil year 2024-2025.
The share of palm oil in total edible oil imports decreased to 48% (72%) in the first two months of 2024-25, while soft oil increased to 52% (28%).
Ministry of Agriculture regarding Indonesian palm oil
Meanwhile, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service’s January report entitled “Oilseeds: Global Markets and Trade,” the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced on January 3 that 15.6 million kiloliters of He said he had issued an order to include biodiesel in petroleum seeds. Strengthen the domestic fuel pool and increase the biodiesel blend from 35 percent to 40 percent. This increase in domestic consumption is expected to reduce the amount of palm oil available for export.
As domestic consumption is expected to increase with the adoption of B40, the share of exports in palm oil production is expected to decline. The report said reduced supplies for export accelerated palm oil price increases, making it the most expensive vegetable oil in recent months.
It added that vegetable oil importers around the world are beginning to transition to lower-priced oils, including soybean oil from the United States.
import price
CIF price of imported RBD palmolein rose to $1,236 per tonne in December from $1,233 per tonne in November, and crude palm oil (CPO) rose to $1,270 per tonne in December from $1,269 per tonne in November. did.
Meanwhile, the CIF price of imported crude soybean oil fell from $1,219 per ton in November to $1,123 in December, and the price of crude sunflower oil fell from $1,206 per ton in December to $1,265 in November. .
major exporter
According to SEA data, in the first two months of the 2024-2025 oil year, Indonesia exported 4.16 tonnes of CPO and 3.77 tonnes of RBD palmolein, while Malaysia exported 4.02 tonnes of CPO and 62,402 tonnes of RBD palmolein to India.
During this period, India imported 6.11 tonnes of crude soybean degummed oil from Argentina, 82,421 tonnes from Brazil and 81,339 tonnes from Russia.
In the first two months of the 2024-2025 oil year, Russia exported 3.98 tonnes of crude sunflower oil, Ukraine 1.49 tonnes and Argentina 47,200 tonnes to India.
