India’s palm oil imports fell to a five-month low in October

In October, India’s palm oil imports fell to a five-month low, Reuters reports, citing five traders. They say the decline in overall shipments was due to buyers switching to soybean oil following rising palm oil prices. A reduction in palm oil imports by India, the world’s largest buyer of vegetable oils, could lead to increased inventories in leading producers Indonesia and Malaysia and put pressure on benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures, according to a report dated November 4. Dealers estimate that India’s palm oil imports in October fell by 27.6 percent from the previous month to 600,000 tonnes, the lowest since May. Traders say the country’s palm oil imports in the 2024/25 marketing year, which ended in October, fell by 16 percent to 7.56 million tonnes, the lowest in five years. Palm oil has lost market share to soybean oil after trading at a premium to other edible oils for several months, according to Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trading ...