India canceled duty-free imports of sunflower oil, which will reduce demand for it, while soybean oil immediately rose in price

The Indian authorities have decided to cancel the duty-free import of 2 million tons of unrefined sunflower oil and tax it at a rate of 5.5% from April 1 to support local oilseed producers. The decision on duty-free import of 2 million tons of sunflower oil was made in May 2022 as a result of a reduction in supplies from Ukraine and the Russian Federation and a sharp increase in world prices. It was planned that this quota would also be in effect in 2023/24 MY, however, sunflower oil prices unexpectedly fell to the level of palm oil prices, but there was no increase in supplies due to problems with exports from Ukraine. In January, India waived duty-free imports of crude soybean oil in the new fiscal year (from April 1), which, against the backdrop of the new decision, will lead to an increase in palm oil imports, for which duty-free import quotas were not introduced. India buys sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia, soybean oil from Argentina, Brazil and the USA, palm oil from ...