Rupee Slide Raises Edible Oil Import Costs
12-Dec-2025 12:30 PM
Mumbai. The Indian rupee's exchange rate has plummeted to an all-time low against the US dollar, making the import of foreign edible oils significantly more expensive. Many refiners have canceled import contracts for December and January shipments.
This suggests an improvement in domestic oilseed demand, consumption, and prices. The increased import cost of crude edible oils has impacted refiners' efficiency and activity, leading them to focus more on purchasing domestic edible oils.
This has increased demand for oilseeds at crushing plants, and correspondingly, oilseed prices have begun to improve.
Currently, refiners have remaining stocks of previously imported crude edible oils, but when these stocks deplete, the impact will become more pronounced next month, January.
According to industry analysts, continued imports of edible oils from abroad are proving uneconomical, and therefore, special emphasis is being placed on the procurement and crushing of indigenous oilseeds.
On December 11, 2025, the dollar rose to a peak of ₹90.48. According to a leading analyst, due to a ₹2 per liter increase in the price of imported soybean oil, Indian importers have canceled deals for approximately 70,000 tons of crude soybean oil for December and January shipments.
According to Rahul Chauhan, Director of iGrain India, the free on board (FOB) export offer price of crude sunflower oil in exporting countries, which averaged around $330 per ton in November, has risen to $1345 per ton for December and January shipments due to the rupee's weakness.
Another analyst states that the landed price of global edible oils in India has increased by an average of ₹3 per liter.
In this situation, the demand for domestic oilseeds has naturally increased and may continue to rise. For the past few months, the demand and price of oilseed crops like soybeans and peanuts have been weak.
A trader in Ratlam says that the wholesale market price of soybeans is running well below the minimum support price of Rs 5,328 per quintal, but this could increase by up to Rs 500 per quintal in January 2026.