Palm oil imports expected to increase in the coming months

13-Jun-2025 06:14 PM

Mumbai. Palm oil imports have been on a declining trend since the beginning of the current year. From January to April 2025, monthly imports failed to reach 5 lakh tonnes. After a large import of 8.42 lakh tonnes in November 2024, the volume dropped to 5 lakh tonnes in December and continued to fall thereafter. Imports stood at 2.75 lakh tonnes in January 2025, 3.74 lakh tonnes in February, 4.25 lakh tonnes in March, and remained at around 3.22 lakh tonnes in April.

This decline was primarily due to high export offer prices from major supplier countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. As a result, Indian importers shifted their focus to soybean oil, which was comparatively cheaper. However, with the price of palm oil falling below that of soybean and sunflower oils, imports rose to 5.93 lakh tonnes in May 2025.

Industry analysts believe that if palm oil remains competitively priced, monthly imports could rise to between 6-7 lakh tonnes during the June to August quarter. The surplus stock of palm oil in Malaysia increased to 19.90 lakh tonnes at the end of May, which has added pressure on prices and raised concerns within the industry. The futures price of crude palm oil (CPO) in Malaysia is expected to stay in the range of 3900 to 4200 ringgit per tonne over the next few months.

The Government of India has already reduced the basic import duty on crude palm oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil from 20 percent to 10 percent. This move has made it more viable for Indian refiners to boost imports. According to available data, India imported 33.20 lakh tonnes of palm oil from November 2024 to May 2025, which is 16.47 lakh tonnes less than the 49.77 lakh tonnes imported during the same period in the 2023-24 season.