InfoSAWIT, NEW DELHI – India's palm oil imports surged sharply in August 2025, reaching their highest level in over a year. The increase was driven by palm oil's more competitive price compared to soybean oil, prompting refiners to boost purchases ahead of the festive season.

The Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) reported that palm oil imports rose by 15.76% to 990,528 tons, the highest since July 2024. This surge is expected to help major global producers, Indonesia and Malaysia, reduce their stocks and support palm oil futures prices on the Bursa Malaysia exchange.

Conversely, soybean oil imports fell by 25.27% to 367,917 tons, hitting a four-month low. Meanwhile, sunflower oil imports increased by 28.53% to 257,080 tons, a seven-month high. India also recorded the import of 6,000 tons of canola oil, the first time in nearly five years.

In total, India's vegetable oil imports rose 4.7% to 1.62 million tons in August, the highest since July 2024. The SEA noted that this increased supply is crucial to meet the surge in cooking oil and processed food consumption during the festival season, which is typically marked by increased demand for sweets and fried foods.

"Imports are likely to remain above 800,000 tons in September, as the industry prepares to meet the needs of the festive season," said a Mumbai-based trader who works for a global trading company, as quoted by InfoSAWIT from Indiatimes on Tuesday (9/16/2025).

India, as the world's largest buyer of vegetable oils, primarily imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean and sunflower oils are sourced from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. Additionally, in the first nine months of the marketing year ending in October, India also imported 589,283 tons of duty-free vegetable oil from Nepal through a regional trade agreement. (T2)