India’s Record Soybean Oil Imports from Argentina After Duty Suspension

26-Sep-2025 06:24 PM

Mumbai. To increase dollar earnings, the Argentine government announced a suspension of export duties on soybeans, soybean oil, soybean meal, corn, and wheat, among other products, until September 22, 2025. Consequently, the export offer price of these products fell significantly.

Taking advantage of this, Indian importers contracted nearly 300,000 tons of soybean oil in just two days, September 23rd and 24th, the largest two-day purchase volume ever.

During these two days, Argentina managed to secure export deals for agricultural and food products worth over $7 billion, leading the government to withdraw the export duty waiver plan.

According to industry analysts, this aggressive purchase will help Argentina reduce its soybean oil stocks, while simultaneously increasing pressure on palm oil prices in Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Argentine government had set the export duty exemption period until October 31, 2025, but also stated that if export deals worth $7 billion were concluded before then, the exemption would be immediately withdrawn.

According to critics, India's purchase of such a large quantity of soybean oil from Argentina within just two days is unprecedented, and importers largely ignored palm oil purchases during these two days.

It is noteworthy that India is the world's leading edible oil importer and imports an average of 300,000 tons or less of soybean oil per month, whereas this week, import contracts for 300,000 tons of soybean oil were signed within just two days.

According to dealers, the soybean oil import contract from Argentina has been signed at a rate of $1,100-1,200 per ton, which includes shipping costs and insurance.

This means that this import deal has been made on a CIF basis. The export offer price of soy oil in Argentina fell by about $50 per tonne following the customs suspension.