India's edible oil imports to jump to record on higher palm buying, analyst says
26/09/2025 (Reuters), Mumbai - India's edible oil imports in 2025/26 are projected to rise 4.6% to a record 17.1 million metric tonnes, driven by higher palm oil purchases by the world's largest vegetable oil buyer, industry analyst Dorab Mistry said on Friday.
Higher palm oil purchases by India will help top producer Indonesia and Malaysia to bring down stocks and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.
Palm oil imports are likely to jump 13.4% to 9.3 million tonnes while soyoil imports are likely to dip to five million tonnes in the new marketing year from Nov 1, Mistry told delegates at an industry conference Globoil India.
Sunflower oil imports in the new season are likely to fall to 2.7 million tonnes from three million tonnes this year, Mistry said.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia while importing soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Global palm oil production growth is slowing, with output in 2025/26 projected to rise by only one million tonnes even as demand for food and biofuels climbs, Mistry said.
Malaysian palm oil futures are expected to rise once the peak production period ends in October and could surpass RM5,000 ringgit a tonne in November–December, he said.
Prices could extend the rally further, reaching a more than three-year high of RM5,500 a tonne in January-March 2026 on supplies tightened by increased biodiesel consumption in top producer Indonesia.
The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased RM43, or 0.97%, to RM4,396 a tonne on Friday.