India’s Palm Oil Imports to Drop 9% as Farmers Expand Oilseeds Area

According to a renowned industry analyst, India’s palm oil imports in 2021/22 are projected to decline 9% from the previous year due to increased domestic supply, as farmers expand the area planted with oilseeds in response to record high prices.

Lower imports by the world’s largest palm oil consumer may hinder a rise in benchmark Malaysian palm oil prices, which are approaching all-time highs set in August.

According to Mr. Govindbhai Patel, managing director of trading company G.G. Patel & Nikhil Research Company, palm oil imports in the next marketing year beginning Nov. 1 might drop to 7.6 million tonnes from 8.35 million this year.

According to Mr. Patel, who has been trading edible oils for more than five decades, lower palm oil imports will reduce overall edible oil imports to 13.3 million tonnes in 2021/22 from 13.7 million tonnes.

India imports palm oil mostly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and soyoil primarily from Argentina and Brazil. Ukraine is where it gets its sunflower oil.

As domestic soybean and rapeseed output grows, edible oil supply is expected to rise about 6% to 8.5 million tonnes, according to Mr. Patel.

Prices for soybeans and rapeseed hit new highs early this year, pushing farmers to move from other crops to oilseeds.

According to Mr. Patel, the country’s edible oil consumption, which has been slowed by coronavirus-related lockdowns, might increase by 2% to 21.8 million tonnes next year.

“Demand from hotels and restaurants has been improving as lockdown restrictions have been eased,” he added.

India’s sunflower oil imports, which are expected to drop 22% this year due to record high prices, might rise 28% to 2.5 million tonnes this year if prices soften, he added.

He predicted that soyoil imports will stay stable at about 3.3 million tonnes, including 300,000 tonnes of duty-free exports from Nepal.