India’s import landscape for edible oils saw a dramatic shift in the 2024/25 marketing year, with palm oil imports dropping to a five-year low as refiners favored cheaper alternatives. According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), palm oil imports fell by 15.9% year-on-year to 7.58 million tonnes, marking the weakest level since 2019/20.
This decline occurred because palm oil, traditionally India’s most imported edible oil, lost its cost advantage and was trading at a premium to soyoil for most of the year. B.V. Mehta, Executive Director of SEA, noted that “Refiners shifted to soyoil as palm oil prices lost their cost advantage”.
In a sharp contrast, soyoil imports surged 59% to a record 5.47 million tonnes. Meanwhile, sunflower oil purchases slipped by 16.3% to 2.9 million tonnes. Consequently, palm oil’s share in India’s total edible oil imports dropped significantly to 47% (down from 56% in the previous year), while soyoil and sunflower oil’s combined share rose to 53%.
India’s total vegetable oil imports for the year rose marginally to 16.36 million tonnes, up from 16.23 million tonnes last year. The nation spent a record ₹1.61 trillion on vegetable oil imports in the 2024/25 period, underscoring the massive scale of the country’s edible oil consumption despite the shifting product mix. This structural change highlights how price dynamics and supply chain availability influence national food commodity preferences.
