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India’s edible oil imports in the 2025–2026 season are expected to rise by 4.6% to a record 17.1 million metric tonnes, driven by increased palm oil purchases by the world’s largest vegetable oil buyer, industry analyst Dorab Mistry said on Friday.
Higher Indian palm oil purchases would help top producers Indonesia and Malaysia reduce inventories and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.
Mistry told delegates at the Globoil India industry conference that palm oil imports are likely to jump by 13.4% to 9.3 million tonnes, while soybean oil imports may decline to 5 million tonnes in the new marketing year starting November 1.
He added that sunflower oil imports in the new season are likely to fall to 2.7 million tonnes from 3 million tonnes this year.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean oil and sunflower oil are sourced from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine.
Mistry said global palm oil production growth is slowing, with output expected to rise by only 1 million tonnes in 2025–2026 despite higher demand from food and biofuel sectors.
He added that Malaysian palm oil futures are expected to rise once the peak production period ends in October and could exceed RM5,000, or $1,185, per tonne between November and December.
Prices could continue rising to reach a more than three-year high of RM5,500 per tonne between January and March 2026, due to tight supplies resulting from higher biodiesel consumption in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer.
On Friday, the benchmark December palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives fell by RM43, or 0.97%, to RM4,396 per tonne.
Source: Reuters