Edible Oil Import: Palm oil imports in the country reached a 13-year low, a 65% reduction on an annual basis

The country's palm oil imports fell 65% year-on-year to 2,75,241 tonnes in January 2025. The import volume is the lowest in the last 13 years. The Solvent Extractors Association, which is a trade association of oil traders, stated that the cause of the drop in palm oil imports is the preference for soybean oil by buyers. SEA released figures related to oil imports on Wednesday. According to SEA, the import of edible oils fell by 13 percent to 10.49 lakh tonnes in January. Last year, 12 lakh tonnes of edible oils were imported.

SEA said in a statement, "Palm oil is gradually losing its hold in the market in India. Soybean oil is taking its place." Due to the decrease in the supply of palm oil coming from Malaysia, customers have shown interest in buying soybean oil coming from South America.

Among palm oil-related products, the import of refined and odorous (RBD) palm olein has come down from 2,44,678 to just 30,465 tonnes annually. At the same time, the shipment of crude palm oil has come down from 5,32,877 tonnes to 2,40,276 tonnes. According to SEA, cheap soybean oil and palm oil coming from Nepal has affected the domestic market. Nepal has exported about 1,10,000 tonnes of edible oils to India from mid-October 2024 to mid-January 2025.

India is the largest consumer and importer of edible oils in the world. India possessed a stock of approximately 21.76 lakh tonnes of edible oils as of February 1, 2025. The two nations that provide palm oil to India are Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition to this, India imports soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil, and Russia. At the same time, India imports sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine.