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India's palm oil imports fell to a nine-month low in December as buyers switched to soybean oil instead, according to a Fresh News report on 4 January 2025.
Palm oil imports by India, the world's biggest vegetable oil buyer, dropped 40% from the previous month to 503,000 tonnes in December, the lowest level since March 2023, according to trade estimates.
By contrast, soybean oil imports rose 3% month-on-month to 420,000 tonnes in December, a four-month high, while sunflower oil imports fell 22% to 265,000 tonnes, traders said.
The decline in palm oil and sunflower oil imports pulled India's total edible oil imports down 25% in December to 1.19 million tonnes, the lowest in three months, according to trade estimates.
Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trading firm, said Indian buyers had been actively shifting from palm oil to soybean oil after the price gap between the two widened sharply in November and December.
Palm oil typically trades at a discount to soybean oil and sunflower oil, but shrinking stocks pushed its price above that of rival oils, which are in ample supply.
Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage, said palm oil currently commands a premium of more than $100 a tonne over soybean oil, which will encourage Indian buyers to cut back their purchases further in January.
India buys most of its palm oil from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soybean oil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
The Solvent Extractors' Association of India is expected to release its December import data in mid-January.
Source: Fresh News