India’s edible oil imports fell by 16% in August 2024 compared to the same month last year, according to data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA). The country imported 15.63 lakh tonnes of edible oils in August, down from 18.66 lakh tonnes in August 2023.
The overall imports of vegetable oils for the first ten months of the current oil year (November 2023 to August 2024) also saw a slight decline, totalling 136.8 lakh tonnes, a 3% drop from 141.2 lakh tonnes during the same period last year.
Despite the decline in imports, SEA projects that India’s total cooking oil imports for the 2023-24 oil year will range between 160 and 165 lakh metric tons, comparable to last year’s figures. As of September 1, 2024, the total stock of edible oils in the country stood at 29.25 lakh metric tons, a slight increase from 29.02 lakh metric tons recorded a month earlier.
In terms of oil types, palm oil imports decreased by 7% during the first ten months of the current oil year, while soft oil imports saw a marginal increase. Palm oil’s share in overall imports fell slightly to 57%, while soft oils, including soybean and sunflower oil, accounted for 43%, up from 41% last year.
India’s palm oil is primarily sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia, with Indonesia being the largest supplier, providing 28.06 lakh tons of crude palm oil (CPO) and 13.77 lakh tons of refined palmolein. Malaysia followed with 23.76 lakh tons of CPO and 22.7 lakh tons of refined palmolein.
For other edible oils, India imported crude soybean oil predominantly from Argentina, followed by Brazil, and crude sunflower oil from Russia, Romania, Ukraine, and Argentina.