Tense situation in the Red Sea will force India to increase oil supplies from South America

India, which is the world’s main importer of sunflower oil, gets most of it from the Black Sea region via the Red Sea. But due to Houthi attacks, shipowners are sending ships from Europe to Asia bypassing Africa, which increases the time and cost of delivery. Prices for Argentine sunflower oil are now lower than for Black Sea oil, so India may shift to buying oil from South America. According to the brokerage Sunvin Group, amid rising freight costs, the prices of sunflower oil in India exceeded the prices of soybean oil for the first time in a year. “In recent months, the import of sunflower oil has been stable due to the better price for it than for soybean oil, but after the rise in freight prices, this advantage has been lost,” the company’s experts said. Currently, imported crude sunflower oil in India is offered at $943/t CIF (cost, insurance and freight) for delivery in February, while crude soybean oil is offered at $935/t and crude palm oil at $933/t. Two months ago, the ...