India increased vegetable oil imports in May due to a significant increase in soybean oil supplies

India increased vegetable oil imports by 2.6% to 1.3 million tonnes in May, boosted by increased soybean oil supplies. However, experts say lower-than-usual palm oil imports could lead to increased inventories in key producing countries Indonesia and Malaysia, putting pressure on its prices.

After palm oil prices lost their advantage over other oils, Indian processors increased their purchases of soybean oil from South America in May.

Soybean oil imports increased by 38% compared to April to a 5-month high of 497 thousand tons, while sunflower oil imports decreased by 32.3% to 294 thousand tons. Palm oil imports also increased slightly from 513.4 to 551 thousand tons, but were significantly lower than the average level.

Experts note that for demand for palm oil to recover, its prices must be significantly lower than soybean prices, while the current discount of $40/t is forcing processors to prefer alternative oils.

In the first 4 months of 2026, Indonesia increased exports of crude and refined palm oil compared to the same period in 2025 by 20.4% to 7.7 million tons.

At the same time, palm oil exports from Malaysia in April decreased by 14% compared to March, and in May by another 6.2% to 1.22 million tons. At the same time, oil reserves in the country increased by 2.2% to 2.36 million tons in May, although production decreased by almost 5%.

During the week, July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia exchange were trading at 4,554 ringgit/t or $1,135/t, while soybean oil from Argentina was offered at $1,250-1,280/t FOB.