India’s edible oil imports fell 8% year-on-year to 8.85 lakh tonnes in February 2025, down from 9.58 lakh tonnes in the same month last year, according to data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).
Total vegetable oil imports (including edible and non-edible oils) also declined 7% to 8.99 lakh tonnes, compared to 9.65 lakh tonnes in February 2024. This included 8.85 lakh tonnes of edible oils and 14,004 tonnes of non-edible oils, according to news agency PTI.
SEA noted that this was the lowest monthly import volume since May 2020, when imports had dropped to 7.20 lakh tonnes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, for the first four months of the 2024-25 oil year (November 2024–February 2025) , total vegetable oil imports rose 4% to 48.07 lakh tonnes, up from 46.38 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.
The recent decline in imports has been cushioned by high stock levels accumulated in India up to November 2024. However, with stocks now below 2 million tonnes, SEA expects a rise in purchases, particularly of palm oil.
Crude palm oil prices have seen a marginal increase in recent weeks relative to Indian landing costs, but weak price competitiveness in global markets could limit further imports in the near term.
The overall growth in vegetable oil consumption is expected to slow down in 2024-25, as a higher price premium on palm oil has reduced its imports and consumption. This has led to a sharp increase in demand for soybean oil and sunflower oil, SEA added.