India’s palm oil imports are
expected to rebound by nearly 20% in the new marketing year,
driven by competitive pricing that is helping the tropical oil
regain market share, the head of an industry body said on
Thursday.
The increase in purchases by the world’s largest buyer is
likely to reduce stocks in key producing countries such as
Indonesia and Malaysia and lend support to benchmark Malaysian
palm oil futures.
“Palm oil prices have become competitive relative to other
oils after the recent decline, and that will drive import
demand,” Sanjeev Asthana, president of the Solvent Extractors’
Association of India (SEA), said in an interview with Reuters.
The country’s palm oil imports in the 2025/26 marketing
year, which started on November 1, could rise to 9.3 million
metric tons, from last year’s 7.58 million tons, the lowest in
five years, said Asthana, who is also the CEO of Patanjali Foods
Ltd.
Palm oil imports fell 15.9% in the previous marketing year
as the oil traded at a premium to rival soyoil for much of the
period.
But palm oil is now trading at a discount of about $100 per
tonne to soyoil and more than $200 to sunflower oil, encouraging
refiners to book shipments for the coming months, dealers said.
Soyoil imports in the new season are expected to slightly
exceed last year’s record 5.47 million tons. Sunflower oil
purchases are projected to fall between 2 million and 2.5
million tons from 2.9 million tons a year earlier as crop damage
in the Black Sea region lifted prices, Asthana said.
India’s total edible oil imports in the new season are expected
to climb to a record 16.5 million to 17 million tons due to
rising consumption, compared with 16 million tons last year, he
added.
The SEA on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding
with the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations to
strengthen knowledge exchange between the two industry bodies
and help prevent trade disputes arising during imports, he said.
Published on November 20, 2025