Soybean Oil Imports to Hit Record, Palm Oil Imports to Fall
13-Aug-2025 03:13 PM
Mumbai. Top analysts of the indigenous vegetable oil industry and trade sector have predicted that soybean oil imports will jump 60 per cent to a new record level during the 2024-25 marketing season as compared to 2023-24,
while on the other hand, palm oil imports are expected to decline to the lowest level in the last five years. With palm oil available at a comparatively cheaper price,
Indian refiners are showing tremendous activity in the import of soybean oil this time. Heavy purchases of soybean oil by India - the world's largest importer of vegetable oil - are strongly supporting its global market price and it has increased by 31 per cent so far during the current year.
On the other hand, there is a possibility of pressure on the benchmark futures price of crude palm oil (CPO) in Malaysia. According to industry and trade analysts, during the marketing season of 2023-24 (November-October), a total of 34.40 lakh tonnes of soybean oil was imported in the country,
while in the current marketing season of 2024-25, imports are expected to jump to a new record level of 55 lakh tonnes.
But during the same period, palm oil imports are likely to decline by 13.5 percent to 78 lakh tonnes, which will be the lowest level since the year 2019-20.
Similarly, sunflower oil imports may also decline by 20 percent to 28 lakh tonnes, which will be the lowest in the last three years.
Due to the tremendous jump in soybean oil imports, the total import of edible oils is expected to reach 161 lakh tonnes with an increase of 1 percent in the entire marketing season of 2024-25 (November-October). Executive Director of Solvent Extractors Association of India (SII),
a leading industry body, said that the price of palm oil remained at a very high level for several months in the current marketing season, which encouraged Indian refiners to increase soybean oil imports.
Soybean oil was not only available at a cheaper price but also had sufficient stock in major supplier countries. During the initial months of the current year, the export offer price of crude palm oil was as high as $ 150 per tonne as compared to soybean oil.
As a result, its imports in India declined sharply during January to April 2025. Earlier, soy oil was being imported as an alternative to palm oil, whereas now its imports are also increasing due to the huge jump in mustard oil prices. The price of mustard oil has been high for the last two months.