Record import of vegetable oils to India in FY 2022/23 increased stocks and reduced imports at the start of the new season

According to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), in FY 2022/23, compared to the previous season, India increased its import of vegetable oils by 17.4% to a record 16.47 million tons, including palm oil by 24% to 9.79 million tons, sunflower - by 54% to 3 million tons, while it reduced the purchase of soybean oil by 12% to 3.68 million tons. This is due to the decision of the country's authorities to reduce the import duty on vegetable oils to 5.5%, as well as low prices on palm oil.

As a result of active imports, vegetable oil stocks in the country as of November 1 increased compared to last year from 2.46 to 3.3 million tons. Against this background, in October, palm oil imports decreased by 15% compared to September to a 4-month low 708.7 thousand tons, soybean - by 62% to the 34-month minimum of 135.3 thousand tons, sunflower - by 49% to the 7-month minimum of 153.8 thousand tons.

The Vegetable Oil Producers Association (IVPA) predicts that India will reduce vegetable oil imports to 16.2 million tonnes in 2023/24, compared to a record 16.9 million tonnes in 2022/23. In particular, the import of palm oil will decrease from 10.1 to 9.1 million tons, soy oil - from 3.9 to 3.6 million tons, while the import of sunflower oil will increase from 3 to 3.5 million tons. However, the experts of the association believe that consumption of vegetable oils in the country in 2023/24 MR will grow by 2.8% compared to the previous season to 25.2 million tons.