India’s May palm oil imports surge 84% m/m to hit six-month high

India’s palm oil imports jumped to a six-month high in May, driven by low inventories and the tropical oil’s price discount to rival soyoil and sunflower oil, which prompted refiners to boost purchases, an industry body said on Thursday.

Higher imports of palm and soyoil by India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, could support Malaysian palm oil prices and U.S. soyoil futures.

Palm oil imports rose 84% in May from April to stand at 592,888 metric tons, the highest since November 2024, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said.

India imported an average of more than 750,000 tons of palm oil each month during the marketing year that ended in October 2024, the SEA said.

Imports of soyoil increased 10.4% to 398,585 tons, the highest since January, and sunflower oil imports rose 1.9% to 183,555 tons, it added.

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Higher imports of palm oil and soyoil lifted India’s total vegetable oil imports in May by 33% from a month before to 1.19 million tons, the highest since December, it said. Below-average imports from January to April reduced domestic vegetable oil stocks to 1.33 million tons by June 1, the lowest since July 2020, according to SEA data. Palm oil imports are likely to increase further in June and could rise to about 850,000 tons, as the oil is trading at a discount to soyoil, said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trader.

Soyoil imports in June will hold steady around 400,000 tons, Patel said.

India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Vegetable oil imports are expected to pick up in the coming months as this month’s duty cut will help boost demand, said a New Delhi-based trader.

India halved the basic import tax on crude edible oils to 10% in a bid to reduce food prices and help the domestic refining industry.

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