India's Palm Oil Imports Plummet To 13-Year Low As Buyers Turn To Soybean Oil

India's palm oil imports plunged 65 per cent year-on-year to 2,75,241 tonne in January 2025, the lowest in 13 years, as buyers shifted to cheaper soybean oil, industry body Solvent Extractors Association of India said on Wednesday. Total vegetable oil imports dropped 13% to 10.49 lakh tonne in January from 12 lakh tonne a year earlier.

"Palm oil is losing market share in India and slowing down and the share is taken by soya oil," the SEA said in a statement.

Malaysian palm oil shipments declined as tightening export supplies prompted consumers to switch to lower-priced South American soybean oil.

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Soybean oil imports more than doubled to 4,44,026 tonne in January from 1,88,859 tonne a year ago, while sunflower oil shipments rose 31% to 2,88,284 tonne.

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Among palm oil products, refined bleached deodorized palmolein imports fell to 30,465 tonne from 2,44,678 tonne a year ago. Crude palm oil shipments declined to 2,40,276 tonne from 5,32,877 tonne.

The SEA said a massive influx of refined soybean oil and palm oil at lower prices from Nepal was distorting the local market. Nepal exported 1,10,000 tonne of edible oil to India between mid-October 2024 and mid-January 2025.

Although palm oil prices dropped by $80-100 per tonne in the past month, soybean oil remains more attractive, the SEA said.

India, the world's largest edible oil consumer and importer, had edible oil stocks of 21.76 lakh tonne as of Feb. 1.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the major palm oil suppliers to India, while Argentina, Brazil and Russia supply soybean oil. Russia and Ukraine are the main suppliers of sunflower oil.

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