According to a trade group on Monday, India's imports of palm oil fell by about 19% in March and reached a three-month low as a result of refiners delaying purchases due to an increase in tropical oil prices in accordance with energy markets.
The world's largest importer of edible oil may be forced to increase abroad purchases in the upcoming months in order to refill supplies, but lower imports could deplete stocks and bolster local oilseed prices.
According to a statement from the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), India's imports of palm oil decreased from 847,689 tonnes in February to 689,462 metric tonnes in March, the lowest since December 2025.According to the SEA, imports of sunflower oil increased by around 35% to 196,486 tonnes, while imports of soyoil decreased by 4% to 287,220 tonnes.
As palm oil and soyoil purchases decreased, India's total edible oil imports plummeted more than 9% from February to 1.17 million tonnes in March, the lowest since April 2025, according to the data.
While soy oil and sunflower oil are mostly imported from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine, the majority of India's palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia.
According to a Mumbai-based dealer with a worldwide trade business, supplies of rapeseed oil L1N40S0A9 from the new-season crop are increasing, helping to reduce imports in the short term.Customers are anticipating a price adjustment.Indian refiners will increase purchases if prices don't drop in the coming weeks, the trader said.