India's vegetable oil imports slump to lowest in 14 months on low soy, sunflower oil purchases

India's vegetable oil imports touched a 14-month low of 911,846 mt in April, down 13% from March, due to a decline in soy and sunflower oil buying, data from trade body Solvent Extractors' Association of India or SEA showed May 13.

This represents the lowest monthly import level from world's largest vegetable oil buyer since February 2021, when imports fell to 838,607 mt.

According to the SEA data, overall imports of vegetable oils during first the six months of marketing year 2021-22 (November-October) slightly increased by 4% to 6.7 million mt compared with 2020-21.

Palm oil imports rose to 572,508 mt in April, up 6% from a month before, as buyers looked for alternatives to blocked sunflower oil shipments from the Black Sea region.

SEA said that, since March 27, India has received no shipment of sunflower oil from leading supplier Ukraine.

Supply concerns for India's vegetable oil buyers have been further aggravated in May as Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer and exporter, banned palm oil exports from April 28 in the face of skyrocketing domestic inflation and cooking oil shortages.

"It is expected, Indonesia may lift the ban before end of May," SEA said May 13, warning that the situation could turn ugly if the ban continues beyond May as it supplies about 300,000 mt of crude and refined palm oil to India every month.

India relies on imports to fulfill about 60% of it's annual edible oil consumption of around 21 million mt.

The purchase of soft oils -- soybean and sunflower oil -- has slumped by 8% and 74.3% respectively in April from March.

The share of soft oil imports fell to 36% in April from 49% in the previous month.

Palm oil typically accounted for about 60% of India's vegetable oil imports prior to the marketing year 2021-22, due to its price advantage over soft oils. Palm oil's share of the imports was 63% in MY 2020-21, as per SEA data.

However, in the first six months of the current marketing year, palm oil imports accounted for 49% of India's total vegetable oil purchases, with soft oils accounting for a bigger chunk.

Indian importers usually prefer to buy soft oils if the price difference with palm oil ranges less than $80-$100/mt as soft oil-based cooking oils command a higher premium in domestic markets, trade sources said.

The physical market price of CPO FOB Indonesia has risen about 30% this year and was assessed at $1,686/mt May 12, by S&P Global Commodity Insights. Meanwhile soybean oil FOB Paranagua was assessed at $1,825.87/mt and Sunflower oil FOB Black Sea Ukraine at $1,947.5/mt on May 12.