India's vegetable oil imports up 13% in March as palm oil imports rise

Top buyer India imported 1.1 million mt of vegetable oils in March, up 13% from a year ago and driven by a resurgence in palm oil buying, data from trade body Solvent Extractors' Association of India showed April 13.

Palm oil imports rose to 539,793 mt in March, up 3% from a year ago and above the 454,794 mt imported in February, the SEA said.

The tropical oil accounted for 51% of India's total vegetable oil imports in March, breaking a five month spell of losing market share to soft oils, as the war in Ukraine choked sunflower oil supply from the country and unfavorable weather slowed soybean oil sales from Argentina.

Between November and March of marketing year 2021-22 (November-October), palm oil accounted for 47% of total imports, with soybean and sunflower oil making up the bigger chunk of imports, SEA data showed.

In March, 212,484 mt of sunflower oil arrived as vessels which left before conflict between Russia and Ukraine arrived in India. Of this, about 127,000 mt was from Ukraine and 73,500 mt from Russia, SEA data showed.

"However, in April as no shipment from Ukraine took place, sunflower oil import may fall to nearly 80,000 mt, mainly arriving from Russia and Argentina only."

India's soybean oil imports in March fell to 299,421 mt from 376,594 mt in February, the SEA said.

Soybean oil imports in March were at a five-month low as rising prices in South America along with lack of availability at world's largest soybean oil exporter Argentina, as well as Paraguay, sources said.

India has also imported a record 112,576 mt of soybean oil from the US in the first five months of MY 2021-22, the SEA data showed.