India’s sunflower oil imports rose 34% in February

India’s palm oil imports fell to their lowest level in nine months in February as higher prices prompted buyers to cut purchases of the tropical oil and increase purchases of sunflower oil, five dealers told Reuters on Tuesday.

Reduced purchases by India, the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oils, may put pressure on palm oil futures in Malaysia but help reduce sunflower oil inventories in the Black Sea region. Dealers estimate palm oil imports in February fell 35.6 percent month-on-month to 504,000 tons, the lowest since May 2023.

“Palm oil imports declined significantly due to continued negative margins and competitive soybean and sunflower oil prices,” said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at edible oil trader and broker GGN Research. Palm oil typically sells at a discount compared with competing soybean and sunflower oils, but falling stocks have driven prices above those of competing oils whose stocks are abundant.

India’s crude palm oil (CPO) imports are being offered at around $965 per metric tonne including cost, insurance and freight (CIF) for delivery in April, while soybean and sunflower oils are being offered at around $950 and $928 per tonne respectively, dealers said. Sunflower oil imports rose 34% last month to 295,000 tons at lower prices, and as originally expected in January, shipments arrived in February due to delays caused by Houthi attacks on Red Sea sea lanes, they said.

Soybean oil imports in February fell 7.9% to 174,000 tons from the previous month and were well below the monthly average imports of 306,000 tons seen in the last marketing year ended Oct. 31, dealers estimated. The Solvent Industry Association of India (SEA) is likely to release its February import data by mid-March.

Lower imports of palm and soybean oils drove down India’s total edible oil imports in February to the lowest level in nearly two years at 973,000 tons, down 18.4% from a month earlier, dealers said. India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soybean and sunflower oils from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Tags: sunflower oil, soybean oil, India, palm oil