India’s Palm Oil Imports up 15.8% in August 2025 but takes a dive in October
- India’s palm oil imports rose 15.8% to 990,528 tonnes in August, the highest since July 2024, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India.
- Its import of soybean oil decreased 25.3% to 367,917 tonnes, the lowest level in four months
- Import of sunflower oil rose 28.5% to a seven-month high of 257,080 tonnes.
- In August, India imported 6,000 tonnes of canola oil for the first time in nearly five years.
- India is the world’s largest buyer of vegetable oils, it buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia. It imports soybean oil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
- The Diwali festive season from Sep to Oct typically sees demand for edible oil (especially palm oil) rising due to increased consumption of sweets and fried foods. Competitive pricing of palm oil relative to soybean oil has helped spur demand in recent months before this season.
- According to recent Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data, Malaysia’s palm oil inventory climbed to a 20-month high of 2.2 million tonnes at the end of August as production rose faster than exports. India’s festive season is expected to help ease the recent inventory build-up in Malaysia and Indonesia although early data from independent cargo surveys have shown weak exports in the first 10 days of September with potentially 1.2 million tonnes to 1.4 million tonnes according to Maybank Investment Bank (below the historical average of 1.5 million tonnes).
Palm Oil take a breather in October.
CPO prices have taken a breather towards the end of October in response to a combination of factors. From a range of RM4,400 to 4,500 per tonne since mid-August, it is how hovering around RM4,100.
Major importer India saw its palm oil imports fall to 600,000 tonnes, the lowest level since May. Accorder to traders, buyers have switched to soyoil after a rally in palm oil prices.
Lower palm oil imports by India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, could boost inventories in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Reuters projected Malaysia’s palm oil inventories to rise to 2.44 million tonnes in Oct 2025, the highest level since October 2023.
Another factor could be the recent strength in the Ringgit, while weaker October trade figures from China also weighed on the demand outlook.
Traders remain cautious over expectations of rising output of vegetable oils in the coming weeks. The supply of rapeseed oil is also expected to spike after record planting this year.
Palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil make up some 85 to 90% of the global consumption market for edible oils.