-Palm oil imports hit 7-month high at 1.08 million tons

-Soybean oil imports down 22% YoY to 342,270 tons

-Sunoil imports up 71% m/m to 327,259 tons

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India's palm oil imports rose 59% from a year earlier to 1.08 million tons in July, the highest level in seven months, as refiners took advantage of falling prices to increase purchases.

India is the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oil, and its increased imports will help top producers in Malaysia and Indonesia reduce inventories and support prices in Malaysia.

Soybean oil imports fell about 22 percent to 342,270 tons and sunflower oil imports rose 71 percent to 327,259 tons, the Mumbai-based Solvent Extraction Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

India's edible oil imports rose to a record 1.76 million tons in July as refiners built up stocks for the upcoming festive season due to uncertainty over Black Sea supplies, dealers said.

The widening discount in gross palm oil prices relative to gross soybean oil to more than $150 a tonne has prompted refiners to switch to palm oil, said a distributor at a global trading company in Mumbai.

"This trend will continue even in the coming months. We expect imports to be around 1 million tons in September," the distributor said.

The country's total edible oil imports for the 2022/23 marketing year ending Oct. 31 could jump to a record 15.5 million tons, SEA said in a statement.

India's Vegetable Oil & Palm Oil Imports

India's vegetable oil imports totaled 9,127,285 tons in the first half of 2023. This is an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year. India's domestic edible oil prices have fallen sharply, but the increase in imports reflects the fact that demand has picked up.

In the first half of 2023, imports of palm products increased significantly due to price parity, with imports amounting to 3,780,604 tons and US$475 billion; in July, India imported 1,086,305 tons of palm oil, and the share of palm oil in the imported oil category increased from 50 percent to 59 percent.

Finding Suitable Palm Oil Importers from India

The top 10 importers of palm oil from India, as seen in the last 12 months of imports, are as follows: EMAMI AGROTECH LIMITED had the highest imports, with a share of 14.97% of the total imports into India, with an import value of 2 billion. In terms of trade count, PATANJALI FOODS LIMITED had the highest count of 1,229. See more Palm Oil Importers in India

Major Supplying Countries

India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, imports soybean oil from Argentina, Thailand and Brazil, and sunflower oil from Ukraine, Russia and Nepal.

Indonesia is the major supplier of palm oil to India with more than 50 percent of supply, followed by Malaysia with about 30 percent of supply. Thailand is emerging as a regular supplier of palm oil to India and has supplied about 10% of palm oil to India in the past one year. See more countries of origin of Indian palm oil imports

Argentina is the major supplier of soybean oil to India with 59.22% of the quantity supplied, followed by Thailand with 20.49%.

For sunflower oil, Ukraine provides the largest share at 42.2%; Russia has the second largest share at 17.52%; and Nepal comes third by a slightly smaller margin at 16.35%. With the expiry of the Black Sea grain deal and Ukraine's trade with Russia blocked, India's sunflower oil imports will need to look elsewhere for opportunities - meaning more sunflower oil exporters from other countries can benefit. Finding sunflower oil export opportunities from India