India's Feb vegoil imports at lowest since May 2020

India's vegetable oil imports in February fell to their lowest monthly volume imported since May 2020, according to the latest data from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEAI).

Imports in February declined to 899,565t, from 1.03mn t in January and 965,852t a year earlier.

Total stocks as of 1 March amounted to 1.87mn t, declining by 302,000t from 2.18mn t on 1 February, because of lower imports.

Higher premiums for palm oil have reduced both imports and consumption of the product in recent months, leading to a sharp increase in the use of of soybean oil and sunflower oil, SEAI said.

The combined share of sunflower oil (SFO) and soybean oil (SBO) in India's imports increased to 57pc in the 2024-25 marketing year (November-October) from 34pc a year earlier, while palm oil's share decreased to 43pc from 66pc a year ago.

About 284,000t of SBO was received at Indian ports in February and 1.56mn t in November-February, more than double the 664,000t volume imported in the same four-month period a year earlier.

India's SFO purchases totalled about 228,000t in February, down from nearly 288,000t in January, while total SFO imports in the first four months of the 2024-25 marketing year reached 1.12mn t, up from about 907,000t a year earlier.

Meanwhile, imports of palm oil — comprising crude and refined products — rebounded slightly to about 374,000t in February, compared with just 257,000t imported in January and about 489,000t a year earlier.

Overall palm oil imports in the first four months of the 2024-25 season reached 1.99mn t, sharply down from 3.04mn t a year earlier.

India imported 4.8mn t of vegetable oils in November-February, up by 4pc from the 4.64mn t imported in the same period last season.

By Kristin Yavorska