Sunflower oil imports to India plummeted over 2 times in May year-on-year

In May, vegetable oil imports to India contracted for the 6th consecutive month on a yearly basis, this time by 22.36% to 1.187 million tons, according to data from the Vegetable Oil Producers Association of India, cited by international news agencies. For the first 7 months (November-May) of the current agricultural season, foreign deliveries have decreased by over 9% compared to the same period of the previous season, totaling 7.884 million tons. Compared to April, however, imports increased by nearly 38%. Palm oil imports in May shrank by 22.32% year-on-year to 592,000 tons, but for unrefined oil, the decline was only 5.03% to 505,000 tons. For comparison, during the previous season, India was importing an average of 750,000 tons of palm oil monthly. Between January and April, however, foreign deliveries sharply decreased due to relatively cheap soybean oil, which even affected palm oil stocks in India. But discounted palm oil sales led to increased demand in May, with imports ...