India increases soybean oil supplies and reduces sunflower oil imports

According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), in August India increased imports of vegetable oils by 1.5% compared to July to an 11-month high of 1.57 million tonnes, in particular soybean oil – by 26% to a record 628.74 thousand tonnes and palm oil – by 7% to a 6-month high of 782.76 thousand tonnes.

 

The increase in imports is due to refineries trying to build up sufficient stocks for the festival season from August to November, when demand for edible oils peaks.

 

At the same time, sunflower oil imports in August decreased by 36% to 160.64 thousand tons due to the blocking of supplies from the Black Sea region, which also forces processors to increase imports of soybean oil.

 

As a result of increased oil imports, there has been a shortage of capacity and long queues at Indian ports, with ships waiting for 10 days to unload while importers clear the cargo.

 

Importers easily find an alternative to expensive and scarce sunflower oil thanks to their own record soybean harvest, so Ukrainian exporters will be able to win back their traditional markets from competitors only by reducing prices for sunflower oil and, accordingly, for sunflower.