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India's vegetable oil imports held steady at 1.549 million tonnes in June compared with the same month last year, even as shipments of crude vegetable oils jumped more than 25%, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said on Monday.
The rise in crude oil shipments came after the government cut the basic customs duty on crude vegetable oils — including crude palm oil, crude soybean oil and crude sunflower oil — from 20% to 10%, effective 31 May.
Total vegetable oil imports, covering both edible and non-edible oils, stood at 1.550 million tonnes in June 2024.
In the edible oils category, excluding crude sunflower oil, imports of other crude oils rose 25.64% to 1.151 million tonnes in June, up from 916,000 tonnes a year earlier.
However, crude sunflower oil shipments fell 53.58% to 261,000 tonnes in June compared with the same period last year.
According to SEA data, crude palm oil imports rose 23.55% to 788,000 tonnes in June, up from 637,000 tonnes in the same month last year, while crude soybean oil imports increased 30.39% to 359,000 tonnes from 275,000 tonnes.
Imports of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) also rose 33.33% to 4,000 tonnes in June, compared with 3,000 tonnes in the corresponding period last year.
Total imports of crude vegetable oils (palm oil, palm kernel oil, sunflower oil and soybean oil) reached 1.151 million tonnes in June.
Among refined oils, imports of RBD palmolein rose to 163,000 tonnes in June, up from 145,000 tonnes a year earlier.
Imports of non-edible oils fell to 18,497 tonnes in June, compared with 23,178 tonnes in June 2024.
SEA said bodies such as NAFED, HAFED and NCDEX currently hold about 1.4 million tonnes of soybeans and similar quantities of rapeseed. It said: "Given the rise in vegetable oil prices, the Indian government may consider releasing a significant quantity of these stocks into the market over the next three months, ahead of the upcoming harvest season."
The association added that the expected kharif soybean harvest would begin in two-and-a-half months, and that releasing stocks early would help stabilise prices during the festival season.
SEA said: "Timely action would not only benefit consumers but would also help ease the financial and logistical burden on government bodies, while supporting the domestic availability of vegetable oils."
During the first eight months of the 2024-2025 oil year (November 2024 to June 2025), India's vegetable oil imports totalled 9.434 million tonnes, down 8% from 10.229 million tonnes in the same period last year.
Indonesia and Malaysia are India's main suppliers of palm oil, while Argentina, Brazil and Russia supply soybean oil, and sunflower oil imports come mainly from Russia and Ukraine.
Source: Al Mal Forum