Russia Leads in Sunflower Oil Exports to India

01-Nov-2025 04:02 PM

Chennai. India is importing not only crude mineral oil but also crude sunflower oil from Russia. Over the past four years, India's sunflower oil imports have increased 12-fold, surpassing Ukraine as India's largest supplier.

Since the war between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022, Ukraine has increased its sunflower oil exports to European countries, while India's imports from Russia have also increased rapidly.

Russia has been continuously attacking Ukrainian ports, hindering sunflower oil imports from there. Meanwhile, Russia's ports are well-protected and it is considered a reliable and stable exporter, which has led to India's continued dependence on sunflower oil imports.

Although the global market price of sunflower oil has risen recently, and India does not have a duty-based base import price, imports are unlikely to decline significantly, and Russia continues to dominate its exports.

India imports significant quantities of sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine, as well as Argentina. It is also imported from a few other countries.

Indian refiners' interest in Russian oil has grown rapidly in recent years and is expected to continue in the near future.

Therefore, imports from Russia may increase further. Russian production is modest. India has a very low supply of sunflower oil from domestic sources, while demand and consumption are growing.