InfoSAWIT, NEW DELHI — India's soybean oil imports are expected to soar by 60% year-on-year in 2024/2025, reaching a record high as oil mills ramp up purchases due to lower prices compared to palm oil. Conversely, palm oil imports are projected to plummet to a five-year low, according to six industry players speaking to Reuters.
The surge in soybean oil purchases by India, the world's largest vegetable oil importer, will support global soybean oil prices, which have risen by 31% since the beginning of the year. However, this trend could pressure Malaysian palm oil futures prices.
According to traders' estimates, India's soybean oil imports for the marketing year 2024/2025, ending in October, are expected to rise to 5.5 million tons from 3.44 million tons the previous year. Meanwhile, palm oil imports are projected to decline by 13.5% to 7.8 million tons—the lowest since 2019/2020.
Sunflower oil imports are also expected to drop by 20% to 2.8 million tons, the lowest in three years. Overall, India's vegetable oil imports are projected to increase slightly by 1% to 16.1 million tons.
"For months this year, palm oil has been trading at a premium, prompting buyers to switch to soybean oil," said B.V. Mehta, Executive Director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, as reported by InfoSAWIT from freemalaysia today on Wednesday (August 13, 2025).
Mehta further explained that soybean oil is cheaper and in abundant supply, allowing it to capture market share from palm oil.
Earlier this year, crude palm oil was trading at a premium of up to US$150 per ton compared to crude soybean oil, due to tight supplies from producing countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. This situation has triggered a shift in consumption, even among large industrial buyers.
"Initially, soybean oil was merely a substitute for palm oil, but now it is also replacing rapeseed oil, which has seen prices surge in the last two months," said a trader in Mumbai from a global trading company.
India primarily imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while soybean and sunflower oils come from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. This year, India is also expected to purchase over 600,000 tons of soybean oil from Nepal.
"Imports from Nepal are duty-free under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), encouraging buyers in eastern India to take advantage of supplies from the Himalayan nation," said a trader based in New Delhi. (T2)
