India's palm oil imports in May improve; soyoil increases on shrinking premium

Five dealers said that India's imports of palm oil rose modestly from the previous month's low but remained below average. Refiners switched to soyoil as palm's price edge over competing oils shrank, they said.

Imports of palm oil from the world's largest importer could be lower than usual, which would increase stocks in major producers Indonesia and Malaysia. This could also weigh on futures contracts for Malaysian benchmark palm oil.

Dealer estimates show that palm oil imports increased to 551,000 tons in May from 513 403 tons in April.

Imports of soyoil rose 38% in May, the highest level in five months. Sunflower oil shipments dropped 32.3%, to 294,000 tonnes.

Estimates show that India's total imports of edible oils rose by 2.6% between April and May to 1.3 millions tons, due to an increase in soyoil purchases.

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

Solvent Extractors' Association of India's (SEA) report that India's palm oil imports per month averaged 632,000 tonnes in the marketing year ending October 2025. The SEA is expected to release May import data mid-June.

Aashish Acharya is the vice president of Patanjali Foods Ltd., one of India's leading importers of palm oils. He said that India's palm oil imports have been below average due to cooking gas shortages.

The restaurants offer popular deep-fried snacks, such as samosas or chole bhature (which contains chickpeas).

India, the world's largest?importer? of cooking gas, is facing its worst crisis in decades. The government has cut supplies to industry, and raised prices for commercial cylinders to protect households from shortages.

Soyoil exports increased in May as the premium of the commodity over palm oil decreased to about $40 per tonne. This made it more attractive to refiners.

Sandeep Bajoria is the chief executive officer of Sunvin Group. The firm is a vegetable oil consultancy and brokerage. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Reporting by Rajendra J. Jadhav)

(source: Reuters)