MUMBAI: According to five dealers, India's imports of palm oil dropped 27% to a one-year low in April due to refiners cutting back on purchases due to weak demand from institutional customers and a recent price increase that reduced its advantage over competing oils. Reduced imports by the largest vegetable oil importer in the world may raise stocks in leading producers Indonesia and Malaysia and impact benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.
According to dealer estimates, palm oil imports decreased from 689,462 tonnes in March to 505,000 metric tonnes in April, the lowest since April 2025. In April, shipments of sunflower oil more than quadrupled to 435,000 tonnes, the largest in 22 months, while imports of soy oil increased 24% month over month to 355,000 tonnes, the highest in four months.

As purchases of sunflower oil and soyoil increased, India's total edible oil imports increased by 10.4% from March to 1.3 million tonnes in April, the highest amount since January 2026, according to calculations.
According to the dealers, duty-free cargo coming from Nepal via land borders are not included in the data.
By the middle of May, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India will publish its import statistics for April.According to Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil broking and consulting organization, restaurants and eateries are experiencing a lack of cooking gas, which is effectively limiting their consumption of palm oil. This trend is reflected in import figures.

Popular delicacies like chole bhature and samosas, which are usually deep-fried, are served at these establishments. India, the second-largest importer of cooking gas in the world, is experiencing its greatest gas crisis in decades as the government hikes the price of commercial cylinders to protect households from shortages and reduces supplies to industry.
According to Rajesh Patel, general partner of edible oil trader GGN Research in Rajkot, Gujarat, sunflower oil imports surged in April as refining margins were greater than rival oils and Indian consumers placed orders ahead of difficulties related to the Iran war.