Changing Trend
India's sunflower oil imports seen falling to four-year low on price premium
This story was originally published at 17:06 IST on 6 February 2026
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MUMBAI – India's sunflower oil imports are expected to drop in the oil year 2025-26 (Nov–Oct) to a four-year low as a growing price premium over other oils pushes buyers towards cheaper alternatives, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said Friday, quoting trade officials.
As a result, the world's largest importer of vegetable oils is likely to increase imports of palm oil, a shift that could help reduce inventories in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures, the board said.
"With sunflower oil prices rising, India is now likely to import only enough to meet its core demand of around 200,000-225,000 metric tons per month," said Aashish Acharya, vice-president at Patanjali Foods Ltd., a leading importer of edible oils.
Crude sunflower oil from the Black Sea region is currently being offered at about $1,420 a tonne on a cost, insurance, and freight basis for March delivery to India, much higher than $1,165 for crude palm oil and $1,255 for crude soyoil, according to the palm oil board.
According to traders, India's sunflower oil imports is likely to drop to 2.65 million tonnes in the marketing year ending October from 2.94 million tonnes a year ago, marking the lowest level since 2021-22.
Russia and Ukraine account for more than two-thirds of global sunflower oil exports, but adverse weather in both countries, which are at war with each other, tightened supplies and lifted prices in January to the highest level in more than three years, said a New Delhi-based dealer.
Argentina is offering sunflower oil at about $10 to $20 a tonne cheaper than Black Sea supplies, following improved output, providing some relief for Indian buyers, one dealer said.
Sunflower oil is mainly consumed in India's southern states, but consumers there are shifting to palm oil, said a Mumbai-based dealer. The trend was reflected in India's palm oil imports in January, which jumped 51% from December, while sunflower oil imports fell 23%, according to dealers' estimates. The Solvent Extractors' Association of India is likely to release January data on India's edible oils imports towards mid-February. End
US$1 = INR 90.65
Reported by Abhijit Doshi
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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