India’s March palm oil imports jump as Ukraine sunoil supplies halt

Palm oil imports rise 19% in March to 539,793 tonnes, April sunoil imports could fall to 80,000 tonnes

India’s palm oil imports jumped 18.7% in March from the previous month, as traders moved to secure alternatives to sunflower oil that can no longer be bought from Ukraine, a leading trade body said on Wednesday.

The higher purchases of palm oil by India, the world’s biggest importer of edible oils, could support Malaysian palm oil futures..

In March, 539,793 tonnes of palm oil landed in India, up from 454,794 tonnes in February, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

India imported 212,484 tonnes of sunflower oil in March, up from 152,220 tonnes in February, helped by the arrival of a few ships that had left Ukraine before the war, it said.

“However in April, as no shipment from Ukraine came, sunflower oil import may fall to nearly 80,000 tonnes, mainly arriving from Russia and Argentina only,” it said.

India has contracted for 45,000 tonnes of Russian sunflower oil at a record high price for shipments in April, as edible oil prices in the local market surged because of the cessation of Ukrainian supply.

The country’s soyoil imports in March fell to 299,421 tonnes from 376,594 tonnes a month ago, the SEA said.