Source: Ukragroconsult (Ukraine)
India cut edible oil imports by 25 percent to a 3-month low of 1.19 million tons in December, including sunflower oil by 22 percent to 265,000 tons and palm oil by 40 percent to a 9-month low of 503,000 tons, as prices rose sharply, prompting processors to increase purchases of cheaper soybean oil, imports of which rose 3 percent to a 4-month high of 420,000 tons.
Palm oil usually sells cheaper than soybean and sunflower oil, but dwindling stocks led to a sharp rise in its prices in November and December, prompting Indian importers to start buying soybean oil aggressively. According to brokerage Sunvin Group, palm oil prices are currently $100 per ton higher than soybean oil, so Indian buyers will continue to cut back on imports in January this year.
The Indian Oil Producers Association (SEA) is expected to release import data for December by mid-January.
Recall that India buys palm oil mainly in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and soybean and sunflower oil – in Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia. Earlier it became known that the global palm and soybean oil sector considers India as its main target market in 2025.