New Delhi: India’s vegetable oil imports fell sharply by 28 per cent year-on-year to 11.83 lakh tonnes in November, the first month of the 2025–26 oil year, largely due to a steep decline in refined Palmolein shipments, according to data released by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).
The world’s largest vegetable oil importer had brought in 16.50 lakh tonnes of vegetable oils, including edible and non-edible oils, in November last year.
Overall palm oil imports declined 25 per cent to 6.32 lakh tonnes in November, compared with 8.42 lakh tonnes a year earlier. Imports of refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palmolein plunged to just 3,500 tonnes, down from 2.85 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
Imports of other edible oils also saw a decline. Crude sunflower oil shipments fell to 1.42 lakh tonnes from 3.40 lakh tonnes in November last year, while crude soybean oil imports dropped to 3.70 lakh tonnes from 4.07 lakh tonnes. Crude palm kernel oil imports declined sharply to 1,850 tonnes from 10,147 tonnes a year ago.
However, some categories recorded an increase. Crude palm oil imports rose to 6.26 lakh tonnes from 5.47 lakh tonnes in the corresponding month last year, while canola oil imports increased to 5,000 tonnes from just 22 tonnes.
Non-edible oil imports also fell, declining to 32,877 tonnes in November from 37,341 tonnes a year earlier.
Indonesia and Malaysia remained the key suppliers of palm oil to India. During the month, Malaysia supplied 3,01,273 tonnes of crude palm oil, while Indonesia shipped 1,23,456 tonnes of crude palm oil and 3,500 tonnes of RBD palmolein.
India sourced most of its crude degummed soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil and China, while crude sunflower oil imports were primarily from Russia, Argentina and Ukraine.
On the domestic front, sowing of rabi or winter oilseed crops rose 2.40 per cent to 84.14 lakh hectares as of December 5, compared with 81.75 lakh hectares a year earlier. The area under rapeseed and mustard increased 3.45 per cent to 79.88 lakh hectares.
Total edible oil stocks stood at 16.23 lakh tonnes as of December 1, lower than 17.31 lakh tonnes in the previous month, SEA data showed.