India's palm oil imports in June fell to a 14-month low due to a softening demand, say dealers

Five?dealers reported that India's imports of palm oil in June were the lowest in 14 months due to a combination of?a declining discount on rival oils and?a subdued market demand.

The world's largest?importer? of vegetable oils, the United States, is reducing its palm oil purchases. This could cause stocks to rise in major producers Indonesia and Malaysia. It will also affect benchmark Malaysian palm futures.

Dealer estimates show that palm oil imports dropped 10.5% in June compared to a month earlier, reaching 492,000 metric tonnes, their lowest level since April 20,25.

In June, soyoil imports dropped?23% on a monthly basis to 381,000 tonnes, while sunflower oil exports fell 17.5% to 244,000 tonnes, the lowest level in three months.

Estimates show that India's total edible oil imports fell 16.6% in May, to 1.1 million tons in June. Imports of all edible oils also fell.

Dealers said that the figures do not include duty-free shipments from Nepal.

According to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, India's monthly imports of palm oil?averaged around 632,000 tonnes in the?marketing period ended October 2025. The association is expected to publish its June import data mid-July.

According to Rajesh Patel, managing partner of trader GGN in Rajkot, Gujarat, the demand for palm oil has been low in recent months. Distributors have been buying in hopes that prices will fall, causing refiners and importers to reduce their purchases.

He said that the fall in demand was also due to a lack of cooking gas, higher gas prices, and extreme summer temperatures.

India, the world's largest importer of cooking gases, is experiencing its worst gas shortage in decades. The government has cut supplies to industry while raising prices for commercial cylinders.

A Mumbai-based trader with a global trading house said that the discount between palm oil and soyoil had narrowed down to less than $50 a tonne, causing refiners to be cautious in their?purchases.

India imports most of its palm and soy oil from Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina. Sunflower oil and soy oil come mainly from Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Reporting by Rajendra J. Jadhav)

(source: Reuters)