![India’s palm oil imports to reach lowest level in 5 years [World News]](https://foodcom.pl/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Foodcom_World_News_Global-1520x760.jpg "India’s palm oil imports to reach lowest level in 5 years [World News]")
- Negative margins affect palm oil’s decline in popularity in India.
- Palm oil imports are set to fall significantly in January as customers are more likely to opt for soybean oil.
- Palm oil imports in January are expected to be up to twice as low as the monthly average.
Why is the popularity of palm oil in India declining?
India is the world’s largest buyer of plant-based oils, importing palm oil from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. The country’s palm oil imports are expected to fall to a five-year low in January. This is due to negative refining margins – refiners are incurring losses of more than US$30 per tonne refining palm oil. The high price of palm oil is prompting buyers to purchase more affordable soybean oil, which has typically been offered at higher prices relative to its competitor.
What does the outlook look like?
The forecasts were made on the basis of, among other things, the amount of palm oil purchased in the first half of the month – a volume of 110 000 tonnes is relatively low compared to the usual monthly imports. The small number of ships carrying palm oil at key Indian ports suggests that imports in January could fall to around 340-370 000 tonnes. This would be the lowest since March 2020, when shipments were reduced by unofficial import restrictions from Malaysia. Last year, imports averaged more than 750,000 tonnes per month and in January 2024, imports were almost 783,000 tonnes. Lower palm oil imports into India are expected to affect Malaysian palm oil benchmark prices, but support US soybean oil futures.
Click here for an interesting article: the role of oils in the food industry
