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Informist, Thursday, Jul. 24, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – India must consider opening its markets more meaningfully to global partners like the US to ensure growth and market efficiency, Kevin Roepke, the US Soybean Export Council's regional director for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, said. He urged policymakers to embrace trade openness and ease restrictions on US farm goods.

 

"You cannot be self-sufficient in everything. Even North Korea is not self-sufficient in everything. And that's a good thing because that means economic activity and consumer choice are prevalent in the market," he said at the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers' Association conference here on Thursday. While India recently eased tariff barriers on crude edible oil imports, it continues to restrict imports of genetically modified crops, including soybean, citing health and environmental concerns.

 

Though India is the top edible oil importer, the country has quietly turned a net importer of soybean after COVID, Roepke said. Soybean is the most domestically produced oilseed. The country now imports between 500,000 and 700,000 tonnes of soybean annually, mostly from African nations, he added. 

 

"If you are going to import soybean anyway, why not from the US?" Roepke said. US soybean seeds are largely genetically modified, and India's regulatory stance has limited their entry into the country. However, imports of US soybean oil are permitted, as refined oil is generally considered not containing genetically modified characteristics. 

 

Meanwhile, India is likely to emerge as the top buyer of US soybean oil in 2024-25 (Oct-Sep), Roepke said. "India right now is, and probably will end up being, the number one export destination for US soybean oil this year," Roepke said. India is expected to import nearly 200,000 tonnes of US soybean oil in the US marketing year 2024–25 (Oct–Sep). 

 

Citing estimates by the US Department of Agriculture, he projected that India could import over 4 million tonnes of soybean oil annually by 2035, making it the largest importer of the commodity. However, Roepke raised concerns about India's stagnant soybean productivity and distorted domestic pricing. He noted that India's average soybean yield remains the second-lowest globally after Uganda.

 

He also pointed to a growing disconnect between India's minimum support price for soybean and international prices. "Pre-COVID, India's (soybean) MSP and the global market were roughly in line. However, after COVID, soybean MSP continued to ratchet up while global prices have come down," he said. Such price dislocations, combined with low productivity and fragmented landholdings, continue to weigh on India's market competitiveness, he said.  End

 

Reported by Afra Abubacker

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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