India's edible oil import rise clogs ports, slows fresh purchases

A rise in India's edible oil imports has overwhelmed storage capacity at key ports, delaying cargo unloading and raising the prospect that the world's largest vegetable oil buyer could scale back purchases in the coming months, three traders told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, Sept. 7.

At the Kandla port on India's west coast, at least nine vessels carrying about 300,000 metric tons of edible oils are waiting to discharge, with some cargoes facing delays of up to 10 days because shore tanks are full. Haldia port in eastern India is also experiencing congestion, although to a lesser extent, a trader from Saveraa International, an edible oil brokerage, said.

The bottleneck follows aggressive buying by Indian refiners, which pushed August edible oil imports to between 1.5 million metric tons and 1.9 million mt, according to various market sources.

There were 587 vegetable oil arrivals on Indian ports, amounting to 1.9 million mt in August, Mukesh Goyal, director at vegetable oil trader Oyal Makler, said. The import number is the highest in 20 months, and 29% higher year over year from 1.47 million mt in August 2025, Goyal said.

Crude soybean oil imports are expected to have overtaken crude palm oil imports at 858,706 mt versus CPO's 793,636 mt in August, Goyal said Sept. 7.

Refiners booked large volumes of August and September cargoes because prompt shipments were cheaper than deferred deliveries and in anticipation of stronger demand during the festival season, traders said.

However, consumption has been slower than expected, leaving refiners and port operators struggling to find storage space.

The congestion is expected to curb India's appetite for vegetable oils in the near term, according to two India-based traders who spoke to Platts on the condition of anonymity.

Vegetable oil analyst Tushar Agarwal said refiners are likely to reduce October purchases of palm oil and soybean oil while they work through existing inventories and clear the backlog at ports.

Soybean oil was on discount, so people bought heavily, but demand has been poor, so offtake from importers is slow. At least four tankers are stuck at ports, and importers are anxious because if the shipments stay stuck, they will default, Agarwal said Sept. 8.

India's port stocks of vegetable oils had hit 1.1 million mt at the end of July, the highest since October 2023, industry trade body the Solvents Extractors' Association of India had said in August while releasing import data for July.

The SEA will release import numbers for August by Sept. 15.

Platts assessed the price of crude palm oil CFR West Coast India at $1,285/metric ton Sept. 7, up 0.6% day over day.