May palm oil imports by India fall to 27-month low

Palm oil imports to India may fall to their lowest level in 27 months in May as local importers canceled deliveries of a pre-contracted product, shifting their focus to buying soybean and sunflower oil, Reuters reported.

At the same time, a significant reduction in palm oil imports by India, which is the world's largest importer of vegetable oils, may lead to a weakening of prices for it on the world market.

As noted, in the period from May 1 to May 20, about 261,000 tons of palm oil arrived in India, and another 150,000 tons are expected to be delivered by the end of the month.

According to the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), India's average monthly palm oil imports for the first six months of MY 2022/23 (November-April) amounted to 818.3 thousand tons.

It is also worth noting that in April, Indian buyers for the first time in many years canceled the purchase of palm oil due to its rise in price and the industry expected that May imports could fall to 700 thousand tons.

At the same time, according to the expectations of market operators and traders, in May India may increase imports of sunflower oil by 28% per month, to 319 thousand tons, and soybean oil - by 16%, to 305 thousand tons.