India will increase imports of palm and sunflower oil

India may import a record amount of palm oil from November 2022 to October 2023 amid its attractive price and the recovery of domestic consumption of this product. This is reported by Reuters.

The Executive Director of Patanjali Foods Ltd. Sanjeev Asthana says that processors are increasing purchases for the upcoming festivals, and in the near future the country will receive about 1.8 million tons of palm oil.

“If India imports this volume, then for the 12 months under consideration (November 2022-October 2023), the supply may reach 10 mln tons, exceeding the previous maximum of 9.5 mln tons, which was reached in 2014/15 MY,” the expert said.

He also noted that the consumption of edible oil in India has declined over the past three years, especially during COVID-19 and high prices in the vegoil line on the global market, but this season demand is expected to recover by 2-4%.

“The revival of consumption will also lead to an increase in oil imports. In total, the country will receive a record 16.5 mln tons of all types of oils,” said Rajesh Patel, Managing Partner of GGN Research.

According to the expert’s forecasts, the import of sunflower oil may increase by 44% to a record 2.8 mln tons. Imports of soybean oil are expected to decrease by 11% to 3.7 mln tons.

The main suppliers of palm oil to India are Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Soybean oil is mainly purchased by traders from Argentina and Brazil. Sunflower oil is purchased from Ukraine and Russia.

Tags: sunflower oil, India, palm oil